Fixture

Although leading 13-12 at half time at a murky Caedelyn Park and seemingly getting on top, the Old Firm were never in this game until late on in the second half when the result had been settled.

The opening 10 minutes were dominated by penalties, Rhiwbina kicking three and Mount one which made it 9-3 to the hosts.

The Mount scrum was putting the home pack under pressure and after a penalty award 25 metres out, scrum half Liam Jones kicked his second penalty with a nicely struck effort from 30 metres to make it 9-6 after the first quarter.

The Old Firm were starting to get more possession and a powerful run by hooker Jarrod Parfitt in midfield after 25 minutes saw him go through the home defence and take play to 10 metres out from the Rhiwbina line, but the home defence held.

Another strong run by Parfitt minutes later again caused the home defence problems but it regrouped and held out follow-up several Mount drives.

Five minutes before half time, a long kick by Rhiwbina up to the Mount 22 was run back and full back Jarrod Cushion put away down the touchline. He took play into the Rhiwbina half and passed inside to No.8 Jordan Coxley. He put in a well-placed diagonal grubber kick back to Cushion who kicked it on just outside the Rhiwbina 22 and was just beaten to the ball by a home defender who took the ball over and conceded a 5 metre scrum.

After several attempted drives over from close in, hooker Parfitt got over to put Mount in front for the first time in the game in the 36^th minute, with Liam Jones adding the conversion to make it 13-9.

Once again, though, a penalty conceded 25 metres out was kicked by the home side to make it 13-12 at half time. With the home team having never threatened the Mount line and the Old Firm having the better of the game, things looked promising for the second half.

But it never happened for the Old Firm, with Rhiwbina dominating territory, having the better of the scrum and lineout, and the penalty count against the Old Firm rising.

After 5 minutes, from a lineout in the Old Firm’s 22, a catch and drive followed by a ruck 5 metres out saw the ball passed to the blindside for the home wing to touch down in the corner to put Rhiwbina 17-13 in front.

A change in the front row by the home team strengthened their scrum and had the effect of putting the Mount scrum under pressure until the Old Firm made a front row change.

Rhiwbina were dominating territory and after an hour moved the ball wide for their wing to jink over for a second try, also converted, to put them firmly in control with a 24-13 lead.

With 12 minutes remaining, a home forward was yellow carded for an early tackle from a high kick. A penalty kicked to 10 metres out from the home line put the Old Firm in the Rhiwbina 22 for the first time in the second half, but the lineout was lost and the home team cleared.

With time running out, a Mount attack and another strong run by Parfitt in midfield set up another attack, but poor passing out wide saw the chance lost.

Rhiwbina settled the matter with a well-placed kick to 5 metres out. The Mount lineout was disrupted and the ball won by the home pack, and after several pick-up and drives, the referee, who was unsighted, eventually run around a pile-up and awarded a try, which was converted, to make it 31-13.

The Old Firm kept going and finished the stronger, with the home team having several casualties in the final minutes. A yellow card to a home player and then another for a high tackle reduced Rhiwbina to 13. A quickly taken penalty by scrum half Liam Jones from close-in saw him touch down and then convert to make it 31-20 to complete the scoring.

Although it was a loss for Mount, Rhiwbina showed they are a better side than their lowly position indicates. The division is a dogfight, with just 2 points separating Mount in 5^th and Dinas Powys in 10^th. There is very little between all the teams which was shown again on Saturday with Porth drawing 16-16 away to Rumney and St Joseph’s winning 10-6 in Treorchy. The Old Firm need to roll their sleeves up and compete in attack and defence for 80 minutes in the games left. They are more than capable of doing so, but they have to go out and prove it. The other thing Mount have to reduce is the penalty count. Rhiwbina were not in the game in the first half but kicked four penalties to be just one point behind at half time, and from that they gained confidence.