Air ambulance drama at youth rugby

05/04/2011 @ 02:23

Welshpool Youths were unable to continue their impressive run against division two topping Bangor, but the match became insignificant following a nasty looking neck injury to a visiting player.

The youngster was air lifted to hospital in the first half, halting the game as the pitch was cleared for the helicopter to land. Thankfully he was later released from hospital without serious injury and Welshpool Rugby Club has praised the emergency service’s efforts.

When the action resumed, it was Welshpool who were stunned and they found themselves going into the break 17-0 down. But they regrouped after the break with a strong showing as Ryan Goodwin and Henry Richard both crossed with Harry Roberts adding a conversion to reduce the final arrears to 17-12.

COBRA’s youth team chalked up a hard earned 14-10 victory over Caernarfon.

First team action

Welshpool were without a fixture as their match at Wrexham was postponed but COBRA kept the pressure in the top four of Division Two (North) with a dramatic 32-26 home victory over Denbigh.

COBRA came out on the right side in a topsy-turvy match which saw nine tries shared between the teams. Denbigh led going into the dying minutes, however two late tries won the game for a COBRA side.

COBRA were generally the dominant side but too often costly errors and poor decision making brought their attacks to an end. Denbigh outside half Jamie Winning was at the heart of their performance, scoring two tries and setting up the other two.

With COBRA no.8 Aled Davies in the sin bin, Denbigh took advantage of the depleted scrum with an opening pushover try from David Haydock. COBRA responded immediately with a period of good play which saw winger Rhodri Davies kick a penalty and fullback Sion Wyn Williams went over with a well worked try which Davies converted. As the end of the half approached Winning gathered his own chip kick and raced clear to give Denbigh a 10-12 lead.

COBRA upped their game in the second half, outside half Dorian Lloyd took advantage of hesitant defending to break clear and offload to centre Matt Jones to score. The conversion by Davies gave COBRA a 17-12 lead. Denbigh responded with a clean break from Winning who was hauled down short of the try line, however the ball was recycled quickly for centre Dion Howatson to score. An excellent touchline conversion gave the lead back to Denbigh, 17-19.

COBRA became increasingly dominant as the game wore on and after a long period of sustained pressure in the Denbigh half scored their third try through no. 8 Aled Davies who broke through two tackles to touchdown. The try went unconverted leaving COBRA with a 22-19 lead.

Looking for the bonus point try to make the game safe COBRA went on the attack but suffered a massive blow when Denbigh’s Winning intercepted a pass and ran from deep inside his own half to score. The simple conversion gave Denbigh a 22-26 lead with eight minutes remaining.

COBRA kept their heads and forced Denbigh deep into their own half. Scrum half Iwan Vaughan forced Denbigh to minor the ball in goal which gave COBRA a 5-metre scrum. The pack were now in the ascendancy and pushed Denbigh back with a slow controlled drive which allowed Aled Davies time to control the ball and pick up to touchdown for the winning try. The conversion attempt hit the post leaving COBRA with a 27-26 lead with two minutes remaining.

In the final minute the game was made safe as Dorian Lloyd set up a position near the Denbigh try line with another strong run. The ball was recycled and moved quickly along the line for wing Geraint Williams to score in the corner. The failed conversion gave COBRA a 32-26 win and five crucial points. Denbigh took two bonus points which was some reward for their contribution.

COBRA:

1 H Jones 2 C Davies 3 A Evans 4 R Evans 5 B Edwards 6 B Jones 7 H Evans 8 A Davies 9 I Vaughan 10 D Lloyd 11 R Davies 12 A Pryce 13 M Jones 14 G Williams 15 S Williams 16 A Roberts 17 G Evans 18 R Jones 19 L Williams

conservatives side banner - russel george