Fixture

Five excellent second half tries, all of them long range efforts which delighted the home support, saw the Old Firm brush aside a spirited but out-gunned Llanharan side which kept going to the last. It was in contrast to the first half, during which Mount built up a 16-9 half time lead but made too many mistakes which stopped play and let the visitors off the hook.

Two 25 metre penalties by Mount wing Will Holley in the first 6 minutes gave the Old Firm a 6-0 lead after livewire scrum half Ross Davies was involved in two attacks which tested the Llanharan defence. A penalty to the visitors was kicked into the Mount 22 where the home defence was tested with Llanharan taking play to 10 metres out and getting a penalty which centre Sion Summers kicked to make it 6-3 after 12 minutes. That man Davies was once again in the action and his backward pass close to a ruck with centre Alex Hughes split the Llanharan defence open, but although it was judged forward, a 25 metre penalty was awarded which was sweetly struck by Holley to make it 9-3. A lineout take and drive on halfway saw Mount prop James Cowdry get away and pass inside to flanker Jordan Burke who took play up to the Llanharan 22, but the visitors survived. A penalty award to the Old Firm in the Llanharan 22 was taken quickly and moved wide to wing Curtis Williams who went for the corner but was tackled a metre or so out. A kick upfield by the visitors gave them a rare foothold in the Mount half and a penalty award saw Summers put over a well-judged kick from 35 metres out, to make it 9-6 after 29 minutes and keep them in touch. Mount struck back quickly with a midfield break by centre Kieron Davies which split the Llanharan defence and was taken on by flanker Chris Edmunds who linked with Davies for him to take play to just 10 metres out. Quick ruck ball saw centre Hughes tackled metres out and after another ruck, second row Jarrod Parfitt powered over from close in for the first try of the match after 33 minutes, Holley converting to make it 16-6. Right on half time, loose play by the Old Firm resulted in a penalty to Llanharan which was kicked to 5 metres out, where a couple of penalties and further lineouts and drives were stopped by the Mount forwards but a home forward yellow carded. Summers had no problem kicking the penalty to make it 16-9 at half time, which was too close for comfort considering the territorial advantage the Old Firm had enjoyed.

The Old Firm set the tone for the second half from the restart when centre Alex Hughes burst through the Llanharan defence to split it wide open and link with fellow centre Kieron Davies who passed on to outside half Liam Jones, but with a two man overlap, a misdirected pass saw a certain try missed. A well-placed kick by Jones to 5 metres out kept the pressure on Llanharan and from a clearance kick to halfway, full back Jack Roberts feinted to kick to the open side and then with a swerve he accelerated through a gap in the visitors’ forward line and sprinted away from the cover defence from 25 metres out for a superb individual try, Holley converting to take Mount’s lead up to 23-9 after 47 minutes. After some loose play, centre Kieron Davies gave to fellow centre Alex Hughes who grubber kicked into space, but the ball was kicked dead from 10 metres out. After some excellent covering by flanker Chris Edmunds on halfway secured a kick, the ball was moved to centre Hughes who once again caused havoc in the Llanharan defence, powering through and then giving a beautifully flighted long pass to wing Will Holley who sprinted into the corner from 20 metres out to finish off a superb attack and make it 28-9. The Old Firm had their tails up and from the restart, a bullocking run down the touchline by second row Jarrod Parfitt saw him bounce off one would-be tackler. With 65 minutes played, skilful quick catching and passing in the Llanharan half down the narrow side put wing Holley away and with one defender to beat he gave a try scoring inside pass to full back Jack Roberts who run in from 20 metres out for another superb team try, which Holley converted to make it 35-9. Two minutes later, quick ruck ball on the Llanharan 10 metre line saw prop James Cowdry give a well-timed pass to Holley who burst away down the touchline from 30 metres out for him to brush off the full back to score another excellent try and put the finishing touches to it with a beauty of a conversion from wide out to take his points tally to 27 and the Old Firm’s lead up to 42-9. There was no respite for the visitors and a tackle on outside half Sharky by quickly-up scrum half Ross Davies saw the ball go loose, picked up and fed quickly to wing Curtis Williams in space for him to burn away from 25 metres out and dive in at the corner for his first 1^st try and the Old Firm’s 6^th of the afternoon, which made it 47-9 after 72 minutes play. Although the game was over, the visitors kept going and monopolised the ball in the Mount 22 for the remainder of the game, but there was no way through a determined Mount defence which tackled with great commitment, to complete an excellent second half, gain 5 valuable points, and take the Old Firm up to mid table in Division 1 East Central.