Fixture

A committed display by Mountain Ash Youth, scoring three tries, gave the Young Firm a 24-15 victory at the Rec last night in the 1/4 final of the Blues Youth Cup before a good crowd. The Mount scrum had the Merthyr eight on the backfoot in the first half but this was halted at half time as passive scrums were introduced after a Merthyr front row forward had to leave the field. A gilt edged chance was not taken in the first half when a cross field kick was attempted instead of putting the ball through the hands with the Merthyr defence scattered after a Mount attack. Mount took a 7-0 lead through a superb midfield break by centre Ethan Conway who finished it off by scoring under the posts. Merthyr hit back immediately with a try from a 5 metre lineout. A second converted try by scrum half Cory Roberts for Mount after pressure on the Merthyr line made the score 17-10 to the Young Firm at the turnround. A third try for Mount after the ball was moved wide to wing Rhys Davies and a superb conversion from wide out by outside half Morgan James put Mount 24-10 up, and although Merthyr had the better of the territory in the final quarter, other than one try there was no way through a committed Mount defence. All in all, it was a good win for Mount over a handy Merthyr team who had a siege-gun kicker at outside half who gained plenty of ground with long, well placed kicks. And, with a bit more precise catching and passing by the Young Firm, several other chances on offer may have been turned into points. Ethan Conway and forward TJ Stokes both had their best games of the season. Details of the semi-final game will be available on this website as soon as they are known.

Mountain Ash Points Scorer: Tries: Ethan Conway, Cory Roberts, Rhys Davies; Penalty & 3 Conversions: Morgan James.