Whitehead RFC Vs Pontllanfarith RFC Saturday 3rd September 14:30
Whiteheads travelled to a slightly damp Pontllanfraith for the first game of the 2016/17 Season boasting a new coaching set up with Chris Cornford and Richard Jones on board this year as well as several new summer signings.
Off the back of three well receive pre-season performances against some strong sides Whiteheads were off to a flying start with the newly returned second row Tom Blacker making a break up the field narrowly missing the offload for a certain try.
Whiteheads were rewarded with a penalty early on that was well within kicking range with another former player stepping up to take the kick in the shape of Adam Gibb. Penalty successfully slotted 0-3 Whiteheads.
Soon after whiteheads were once again in the points with some great passing off the breakdown from Dario and Coxy to put Lewis Johnson over the Whitewash. The subsequent conversion slotted by Gibby, 0-10 Whiteheads.
With the weather deteriorating rapidly the home side dug in and took advantage of some sloppy offloading by Whiteheads to put pressure on the edds defence. As the Home side found out to their detriment Whiteheads have worked hard on defence over the summer and they could not be penetrated. The Blue Wall held firm until Half Time.
Not long after the referee had got the second half underway whiteheads were again over the whitewash with Tom Forsey producing a brilliant offload to put Dario Germain in for the try. Conversion Nailed by Adam Gibb 0-17 the Edds.
Throughout the Game whiteheads put significant pressure on the home sides scrum resulting in them needing to go passive through injury after 70 minutes. The first scrum resulting in some brilliant forwards play resulting in fan favourite Rhys ‘Bodger’ Williams going over for his first try of the season. He was nearly over the line 5 minutes later after a well worked Forwards move put him clear on the wing but he was unable to keep hold of the ball to complete his brace. Conversion by Adam Gibb 0 -24 Whiteheads.
With 15 minutes to go and passive scrums being enforced the coasches rang the changes with Huw Walford, Michael Goode, David Williams, Matthew Brown and Geraint Phillips all coming off the bench. It was back row replacement and Whiteheads Legend Mike Goode who got over for the very final try of the match; conversion missed 0-29 Whiteheads.
A fine performance by Whiteheads and some very good points to take forward in the season. Some standout performances by players old and new especially Lyndon Collins coming off the wing to make his debut at Scrum Half. Final Score 0-29 to Whiteheads.
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