Ebbw Vale 50 Glamorgan Wanderers 11, 19/11/11

Ebbw Vale recorded another comfortable win against limited opposition to secure their place at the top of Division One East, a victory made all the sweeter by being against a side who have often been the club's nemesis.

That said the Wanderers provided a little more with ball in hand than some recent opposition which belied their lowly position in the table, and, with the evergreen Gareth Cull still kicking well, I'd expect them to record a few more wins in the 2nd half of the season.

As for Ebbw, it was the usual case of being fitter, faster and just better in every aspect of the game.

From the Ebbw website:

The second half of the league season began with a double for Ebbw, as they continued their winning streak to defeat Glamorgan Wanderers by 50 points to 11 at Eugene Cross Park on Saturday, scoring 7 tries in the process and bagging yet another bonus point.

The game started well for Wanderers as they put pressure on the home defence, winning a penalty that Gareth Cull converted. Cull missed a second shot before Tom Macpherson grabbed Ebbw's first, beautifully converted by Dorian Jones. Ten minutes later, Charlie Simpson scored a second and this was followed before half time by tries for Dan Haymond, on in place of Tristan Davies who was stretchered off, and another for the pacy Macpherson, to send the Steelmen in 26-6 up with the bonus point secured.

Wanderers scored a well worked try early on, Mike Stephens crossing wide out but after that it was one-way traffic as Ebbw's forwards won a plentiful supply of ball and the backs put together some excellent running rugby. A Jones penalty made it 29-11, and tries followed for Dan Dearden, Dan Haymond and Dai Jones. Dorian Jones contributed 15 points through 6 conversions and a penalty.

In another outstanding team performance, Josh Powell was awarded the Man of the Match accolade - but, again, it could have gone to any number of players, including Ronnie Keynes, Ashley Sweet and Dan Haymond.

All at Ebbw Vale RFC were pleased to see Tristan Davies return to the club this evening following the Wanderers game. Tristan suffered a nasty knock while challenging for the ball during the early stages of the game and was taken to Nevill Hall Hospital for assessment, where he was given the 'all clear'.

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