Fixture

With Treharris pulling out of a WRU Plate game in midweek due to a COVID outbreak, Mount were grateful to Rhymney for agreeing to this game at Duffryn Pennar Park. Although it was only a friendly, it was a special day for backrow forward Kriss Sanders who made his 300^th 1^st XV appearance for the Old Firm and led the team out.

The visitors, who play in Division 3A, immediately took the game to Mount, competing well at the breakdown, having the better of the scrums, and probing for gaps behind. After 5 minutes, Mount set wing Callum Lewis free on halfway but a lack of support saw the wing have to kick on. After 25 minutes, centre Jamie Long burst through in midfield, and although there was no one nearby to pass to, the ball was recycled and passed to wing Curtis Williams who sprinted in from 15 metres to score in the corner. Outside half Callum Hall kicked a superb conversion to make it 7-0. Hall was again in the action when he chipped skilfully over the Rhymney midfield in the visitors’ 22, gathering the ball despite being challenged and passing it to a player nearby for a run-in under the posts, but the referee signalled a knock-on.

The Rhymney eight were scrummaging strongly and from pressure at a 5 metre scrum near the Mount line, the ball spilled out and a Rhymney forward fell on the ball for a try their efforts throughout the game had deserved. The conversion made it 7-7.

A 45 metre kick by centre Dean Gunter from the Mount half gave the Old Firm the throw-in to a lineout in the Rhymney 22, and after a couple of drives near the line, centre Jamie Long got the touchdown and Hall converted to make it 14-7 after 55 minutes. Rhymney responded with heavy pressure near the Mount line, but the Old Firm defence responded well, and kept the visitors out, with some good ripping by forward Jonathan Lewis from a charging Rhymney forward securing a turnover for Mount 5 metres out.

A Mount penalty 30 metres out from the Rhymney line was kicked to the corner and after outside half Hall nearly jinked his way over, a penalty award was moved to second row Mitchell Barnard who drove over near the posts for his side’s third try of the game, Hall converting to take the lead up to 21-7 after 72 minutes.

Minutes later, a kick out of defence was caught by wing Callum Lewis who run infield and set up a ruck from which the ball was moved wide to full back Jarrod Cushion on the touchline and he showed his pace to run in from 25 metres for Mount’s fourth try, Hall converting with a beauty from the corner to complete the scoring and give Mount their second haul of four converted tries in consecutive weeks.