Fixture

It’s fair to say that they don’t like us, they never have they never will. I’m not sure if it’s the small village syndrome where they despise anyone other than their own or the fact that we don’t have those extra thumbs like they do. Nevertheless it was our turn to host the Dees on Saturday for the bi-annual slugfest they call Oakdale RFC versus Ynysddu RFC.

The Dale again were missing a number of key players and had to call on the depth of their squad once again. Jarman hurt his leg or something, Cerrig was boiling his head, Cheese had broken a nail and Ged was having a tattoo of a dolphin on his shoulder with the words ‘I like boys’ underneath

Making the most of their tag conditions the visitors got to the ground early to warm up and spray their scent all over the Recreation Ground. By kick off time the pitch started to cut up which meant that we were in for a dour struggle to exert any kind of dominance in a game which would ultimately be punctuated by instances of violent aggression with some points scored in between.

The Dale started the stronger of the two sides and for the first nine minutes had their visitors camped in their own 22. A yellow card in the first minute for Ynysddu for punching, some frantic defending and attacking in equal amounts contributed to an entertaining opening to this league match but try though as they may the Dale could not turn that pressure into points and the Dees managed to clear the danger.

In fact the first foray into the Dale half proved fruitful for the Dees when the home side were penalised at the ruck and with the wind behind him the Ynysddu kicker stroked the ball through the uprights to take his team into a 3-0 lead.

Straight from the kick off Oakdale were gifted a penalty attempt when the Dees were penalised at their own ruck. Simon Veall facing a difficult oncoming wind did well to put his attempt over and immediately brought his side back level at 3-3 with ten minutes on the clock.

Eight minutes later Ynysddu got themselves back into the lead when Oakdale centre, Josh Thomas was tackled in midfield and swiftly surrounded by a number of Ynysddu defenders. Thomas was penalised for not releasing and their kicker made it two out of two and took the visitors back into the lead at 6-3.

Just after the half hour Ynysddu went further into the lead when good handling by their backs saw the ball reach their full back who had entered the line. He had the speed to get outside of the Oakdale defenders and had a clear sight to the line. The Oakdale defence rushed back and a last ditch ankle tap did take the player off his feet but his momentum took him over the line for the first try of the day. The conversion was a difficult one but was successful and Ynysddu extended their lead to 13-3.

Four minutes into first half injury time Oakdale went on the attack and when they were awarded a penalty, centre Cripper Davies didn’t even bother to look at what his team mates wanted to do and instead tapped and went looking for his own yards. The Dees players were desperate to touch him and try as they may they couldn’t resist which allowed Oakdale to creep 10 yards closer to the posts when the Dees were penalised once more. This time everyone shouted at Cripper to stop and this allowed Veall another shot at the posts to narrow the gap before half time. He set his kick towards the posts and I will say it went high. But as usual controversy reigned when Gareth put his flag up and the man with no parents from the other side didn’t. This left the ref with a decision to make and he went with the one we didn’t want him to choose. All that was left in the half was a comical drop out from the visitors and ANOTHER yellow card for the Ginger Prince before the man in the middle brought the first period to an end.

HALFTIME – OAKDALE RFC 3 V 13 YNYSDDU RFC

The second half didn’t start as the Dale wanted as the visitors pacey backs were put into motion once more and a swift break down the wing saw them score their second try on 42 minutes which went unconverted but did extend their lead to 18-3.

Try as they may both sides went at it big time but without any more points to show for their efforts. The major talking point of the next 30 minutes was a fine Dan Lydiate impression by hooker, Marcus Parkin. Aiming to bring down an Ynysddu attack with one of those trademark chop tackles Parkin went low and all he got for his troubles was a knee straight into the side of the face. Out cold on the floor it was time to get the stretcher out for the second week. Although, like his Brother-In-Law the week before that stretcher was having none of it and Parkin walked from the field straight into the changing room with one side of his face not sticking out like the other half was.

Time was ebbing away and no matter what the Dale threw at their visitors they could not put any more points on the board. Serious thinking had to be done and the last resort was taken. A new born lamb was snatched from a nearby farmer’s field and taken behind Nelly’s Burger Van to be slaughtered and a prayer to the rugby gods was whispered with five minutes left on the clock.

Almost immediately the power of Greyskull had taken effect with another yellow card being shown to a Dees player. This gave the home side belief and they launched a concerted attack at the Ynysddu line. The Dale showed good patience to pick the right time to spread the ball out wide and with a defensive line which was getting thinner by the second, Ynysddu had no answer when Josh Thomas crashed over the line for Oakdale’s first try of the day. Veall missed the conversion but Oakdale could sense that a losing bonus point could be theirs with only four minutes left on the clock and the score at 18-8 to Ynysddu.

With their tails now in the air the Dale gathered the restart and went looking for contact. Each time it came they went forward in every tackle and the only thing the Ynysddu defence could do was backtrack. Confidence was oozing throughout the Oakdale side and yards were being eaten up quicker than the seconds were going down on the clock. 5, 10, 15, 25, 35, 45 yards were all being ticked off as Oakdale got within sight of the line. When Veall got the ball he used all of his strength to sling the ball out as wide as he could. As the ball sailed high in the sky both sets of players and supporters watched open mouthed, wondering who it was going to reach. Arms were flailing in the air trying to gain possession but the only eyes the ball had for was for the man with the mop of fiery red hair and when he gathered the ball he thought he would play funny buggers and step inside the defender he was facing to get closer to the posts. It wasn’t needed as the try line was there for him and the tackle was strong. Fortunately for the village he had the elasticity to stretch and placed the ball on the line like a scene out of mean machine (the Burt Reynolds version not the Vinnie Jones one) to score the second try of the day for the Dale. Veall made no mistake with the conversion and the home side were not just satisfied with the losing bonus point they now wanted the win being just three points behind at 18-15.

As the Dale ran back into their own half to receive the restart Dai Fortune asked the Ref how long was left and like a general in Julius Caesar’s army he confidently held up one finger to confirm that there were sixty seconds left on his watch. This was quite odd considering that Marcus was spark out on the ground for about five minutes when he got injured.

What happened next was all a blur unfortunately and no notes exist to finish off this report such was the euphoria at the end. So instead and appropriate for the occasion, we will summon the commentator gods to allow us to pinch a classic piece of rugby commentary to relay what the feeling was like. At least on one side of the pitch!!

And the Dees kick off with a minute of injury time left on the clock. They are looking for anyway to kill this game off, within the rules or not. This is great stuff. Simon Veall covering. Chased by Oakdale lad Jeremy Roberts. Brilliant! Oh, that's brilliant! Brett Turner, Cripper Davies. Gavin Hipkiss. David Fortune, great dummy. To Vaughn, Rhys Vaughn, the half-way line! Brilliant by Ennis! This is Gavin Price! A dramatic finish! What a score! Oh, that fellow Price!

Newborn babies were thrown into the air, women dropped to the knees and grown men cried – and that was just the Ynysddu side of the pitch! Everyone knew that there would be no time to play after the conversion and celebrations started immediately. Veall did his best effort to miss the kick but it didn’t matter as soon as the ball sailed wide the ref blew for full time. The Oakdale players exploded into jubilation and the band started to play that good old favourite ‘where’s your lead gone? WHERE’S YOUR LEAD GONE?’

FULLTIME - OAKDALE RFC 20 V 18 YNYSDDU RFC

What a day, what a freaking day! Everyone expected them to come to the Rec to ‘rough us up’ and they tried their best to do just that. Unfortunately for them it cost them two yellows, one red (which happened in the last five minutes) and probably a report off the referee to the WRU after their players slammed their handbags into his changing room door and left their false nails embedded into the door when they were baying for his blood. What they didn’t expect was a depth of resolve from our players that they haven’t shown in the corresponding fixtures in the last couple of seasons. They didn’t bow to the bullys but fronted up and shoved it right up their ……………… (complete as necessary)

It looks like Marcus is out for the season with a busted cheekbone and we wish him all the best. Not in his recovery but facing his missus with a black face and only two weeks to go to his wedding – we feel for you big man!!!!

I said at the start that they don’t like us and their supporters really showed their class before the game by opting to go to the Top Hat and not have a pint in our club. No issues with their players or committee, we always get a good welcome when we go to theirs and we will continue to do so when hopefully we will both be playing in Division Two next year. It’s the start of March and we are still in two cups and in with a good shot of promotion. Don’t shout it out loud but things are starting to get exciting……………………

To finish off this week I will quote the great man McLaren again with what he said at the end of the 1973 Barbarians versus New Zealand match:-

‘If the greatest writer of the written word would have written that story, no one would have believed it. That really was something.’