Fixture

The Old Firm came within a hairsbreadth of beating Championship club, Neath, over a competitive 80 minutes of rugby at Duffryn Pennar Park but eventually lost out by a point.

Although losing, Mount probably played as well as they have done this season, with their passing far better and their defence totally committed.

The Old Firm threw the ball wide in the first minute and worked an overlap but the inside pass did not go to hand in the Neath half. Excellent ball retention by Mount saw the ball taken through at least 20 phases as the Old Firm probed for gaps across the field.

The first score came after just 7 minutes when a Neath backline move was mistimed, with the loose ball being seized upon by Mount outside half Callum Hall who raced away from 45 metres out to score a try under the posts – his third in two games – which he also converted to make it 7-0.

Mount were competing well when Neath had the ball, pressurising the visitors at the breakdown and behind. A Neath penalty was kicked to 10 metres out from the Mount line, but even though the visitors took the catch, the Mount forwards did well to stop the drive and win a turnover. From the 5 metre scrum, scrum half Ross Davies did well to pick the ball and make ground for the Old Firm to clear.

A penalty to Mount after 26 minutes was just hit wide from 42 metres by outside half Hall, and although there was no further scoring in the half, the game was competitive with both sides going at it.

After just 3 minutes of the second half, a kick by Neath was recovered by the Old Firm on halfway and the ball moved to the narrow side quickly where centre Jamie Long gave a lovely slip pass when tackled to wing Rhys Davies who was in plenty of space and sped away from halfway to dive in near the posts for Mount’s second try of the night. Hall converted to make it 14-0 after 43 minutes.

Mount were playing with commitment and enthusiasm and a long kick by outside half Hall was quickly followed up by wing Curtis Williams who did well to steady himself and tackle the Neath player. After 50 minutes, outside half Hall struck a beauty of a penalty from 47 metres right through the posts to take the Mount lead up to 17-0.

Neath made three forward substitutions, which gave them more go-forward, although the Mount pack were far from out-gunned and continued to compete well.

After several minutes pressure in the Mount 22, Neath forward Jack Powell eventually drove over near the posts, outside half David Langdon converting to make it 17-7 after 54 minutes.

Mount hit back and won a penalty on the Neath 10 metre line, 15 metres in from the touchline. Once again, outside half Hall slotted over another excellent kick to make it 20-7 after 57 minutes.

Although the Old Firm won a scrum on halfway, the ball wasn’t cleared and Neath ended up being awarded a penalty which outside half Langdon fired into the Mount 22. After 64 minutes, sustained pressure from the visitors eventually led to the pack driving over from close-in for a try which Langdon converted to reduce the Mount lead to 20-14, plus the Old Firm had a forward yellow carded.

Although a man down, the Old Firm took play to metres out from the Neath line, but the visitors were awarded a penalty and cleared.

Neath pressure in the Mount 22 saw a penalty award kicked to touch, and from the 5 metre lineout, a catch and drive eventually saw forward Morgan Thomas awarded the touchdown. Outside half Langdon judged his kick perfectly to dissect the posts to put his side in front for the first time in the game, 21-20 after 75 minutes.

The Old Firm won the ball from the restart and took play up to the Neath 22 metre line where a penalty award gave them a chance to get back in front. The kick went just wide and although the last few minutes were hard fought, Neath defended their one point lead to win an entertaining, hard-fought game in front of a good crowd.

Although a one point loss for the Old Firm, the Mount team can take a number of plus points from this game against Championship opposition. Their catching and passing was much better, the pack competed well for 80 minutes, the defence was good and well organised, with the tackling committed. The Mount team has pace in its ranks and can exploit any space available, as was shown with the two tries. Outside half Hall is striking the ball well. One thing the Mount backs can do to create more attacking options is to put the ball into space behind the oncoming backline with a chip ahead so that with the likes of Jarrod Cushion, Jamie Long, Callum Hall and Rhys Davies clued in, they can run through quickly to gather it just like Johnny Williams did for Wales last Saturday against the All Blacks. This tactic doesn’t have to be close to the opposition line, it can be done further out, but with the pace in the Mount ranks, it is certainly an attacking option to consider.

Next up for the Old Firm is the first Division 1 East Central game away to St Joseph’s on Saturday 13 November, kick off 2:30pm. The Cardiff side topped their division in the WRU Plate, winning 6 games from 8 played, and finished above Rhiwbina, Rumney, St Peter’s and Llanishen.

In the WRU Plate, Mount are one of 24 division-winning clubs who go into the draw for the next round, where there will be 8 byes and 8 games played on Saturday 22 January. The winning clubs and the 8 byes will then progress to the last 16 draw and so on, with the final pencilled in for Saturday 23 April 2022 at the Millennium Stadium.