Fixture

This game was a classic “game of two halves” with Mount securing a bonus point by scoring 4 tries in the first half and leading 26-5, but Ynysddu doing the same after the interval and winning 36-33.

Mount got off to a great start, scoring with not even a minute played. After winning the ball back from their own kick off, the ball was moved wide with good handling to create an overlap for wing Cole Nash who burned down the touchline from 20 metres out a score a great try in the corner.

From the restart, Mount attacked again and full back Jarrod Cushion was a try scorer all over but put he put a tiniest of touches onto the touchline.

Some stern tackling by Mount stopped Ynysddu in their tracks, but after 12 minutes the hosts drew level with a try wide out after taking a quick penalty.

Minutes later a penalty by Hall took the Old Firm up to the home 22 where flanker Dai Richards caught the throw-in and the Mount forwards drove the home side back and over from fully 20 metres for a try. Hall added the conversion to make it 12-5.

Ynysddu responded by taking play up to the Mount line but the Old Firm defence fought tooth and nail to keep them out.

After 27 minutes, a tackle on an Ynysddu player on halfway dislodged the ball. Quick as a flash, wing Morgan James picked up the bobbling ball and gave to Cushion who got away down the touchline, drew the last defender, and gave an inside pass to outside half Hall who run in unopposed from 15 metres out under the posts. Hall converted to take the Mount lead up to 19-5.

Every time the home side tried to make ground in the Mount half, the Old Firm were hitting them back. With half time beckoning, heavy Ynysddu pressure metres out from the Mount line saw a home player hesitate and pass but outside half Hall read it expertly and intercepted it to sprint fully 90 metres unopposed to score his second try under the posts and gain a bonus point for Mount. His conversion made it 26-5 and ended a very satisfactory half for the Old Firm.

A converted try early in the second half made it 26-12 and five minutes later a straight 25 metre penalty made it 26-15.

The Old Firm seemed to have lost momentum and looked a shadow of the team that had played in the first half. Ynysddu were dominating territory.

A try in the corner followed by a superb conversion from the touchline made it “game on” with Mount’s lead cut to 26-22 in short time.

The Old Firm showed a glimpse of what they had done in the first half from a scrum on the Ynysddu 10 metre line. The ball was moved to the narrow side, Cushion came in to create the extra man and after passing to wing Morgan James, who made ground and cut inside, he slipped a pass back to Cushion, who scored under the posts. Hall converted to make it 33-22.

Cushion made a try-saving tackle in the Mount 22 as the home team responded.

Crossing by Mount was penalised in the 63^rd minute, with the home side kicking into the Mount 22. From the lineout, the home centre scored near the posts and the conversion made it 33-29.

Pressure from Mount 5 metres out was stopped by a dropped pass. The home team got the ball back down the pitch and after pressure across the field was repelled by strong, determined Mount tackling, the home centre got his second try with a try near the posts in the 80^th minute, with the conversion giving Ynysddu the lead 36-33.

Even then the game wasn’t over. A break by wing Nash took play up to halfway. A penalty to Mount 40 metres out was aimed for a 5 metre lineout, but it dropped just short. The home team kicked the ball out of play and the referee ended an all-action game that never lacked a dull moment.

A loss for the Old Firm after a 21 point half time lead was disappointing, but they still gained a handy 2 bonus points, which is the equivalent of an away draw. It is points in games such as this which will determine the Old Firm’s fate this season.