S  Machen  v Rhiwbina 

Div 4 E League Fixture

Sat 8/9/07

 On a very hot September afternoon Rhiwbina RFC travelled to Machen RFC looking to extend their unbeaten league run.  Sadly, after what turned out to be a very scrappy game, the visitors finished a close second.
Over a quarter of the game went by before Richard Saltmarsh converted a penalty to give Rhiwbina a 0-3 lead.  A great drive from a lineout on the stroke of 30 minutes then allowed Gerwyn Neale to sneak in for his first try of the season.  The conversion from Richard Saltmarsh extended the lead to 0-10 and Rhiwbina looked in a commanding position.  However, the home side came storming back and a midfield scrum was followed by some nice interplay and a score near the posts.  The simple conversion took the score to 7-10.
As the half came to an end it was the visitors who finished on top with a simple and direct Dave Tame midfield break and try under the posts. Richard Saltmarsh again converted to leave the half time score 7-17.
In the second half it was Machen who came out showing the greatest desire.  A penalty within a minute of the restart was followed by a penalty try and conversion to bring the game level at 17-17.  Almost immediately some sloppy defending from a quickly taken penalty saw the home side race 50m to score an unconverted try.  Then as the game entered the final quarter this was followed by a further Machen try that was subsequently converted to take the score to 29-17.
At this point Rhiwbina looked down and out.  However, to their credit they showed great character and came right back with two trademark tries in the last 10 minutes. Unfortunately both went unconverted and the final score was 29-27.
Hopefully important lessons will have been learnt and the Squirrels will be looking for another win in their next league game at home to Talywain on September 22nd