Yesterday, the Rock U18 team kicked off their tour against an experienced Croesyceiliog side on a beautiful day in Wales. A large local crowd enjoyed the match and after-match activities as we helped the club celebrate its 150th anniversary year.
The Rock got off to a quick start with a penalty kick to the corners, a well-thrown lineout by Nehemiah O’Neil, and a receipt by Josh Byrne O’Neil finished off the drive with our first try.
Soon after, the match opened up when the hosts exploited the Rock’s inexperienced back 3 with testing kicks to space. Their efforts created turnovers and odd-man rushes that resulted in 2 tries. The halftime score was 10-5
The hosts responded quickly with a try of their own after a wide line break and a series of forward picks.
A back and forth section of play occurred. The Rock settled in for a multi-phase, forward-dominated section of play that concluded with a try by Jack Marshall.
Undeterred, the hosts rolled back, exposing the Rock on outside channels and scoring the tying try and eventually the winner in the last minute of the match.
In total, 30 players got time in the game. The final score was 20-15 for Croesyceiliog.
A particular mention belongs to Dakota Snow, who ran a fantastic game from 10. The hosts declared the back of the match to be Tyson Snow and the forward of the match to be Jack Marshall.
Starting lineup:
O’Neil
Carter
Warren
Byrne
Sam Power
Browne
Marshall
Goodyear
Liam Whiteway
D Snow
Carew
T Snow
Logan Burt
Walsh
Robertson
Subs
Boyd
Harrison
Auger
McCarthy
Lewis
Sooley
Luke Power
Carter Norman
Sebastian Cook
White
Gyles
Takoda brown
Hills
