Fixture

Playing eight games in April was never going to be easy. A combination of an excellent SWALEC Bowl run and some inclement weather back at the start of the year meant that our outstanding games were piling up as the weeks went on. We couldn’t do anything about it and just had to knuckle down and get through them. Tuesday night was the last of those games, against a Caldicot side who sat one place above us in fourth after not wanting to play in the mud and rain when our original fixture was called off by them back in February.

Considering the games we had played and the injuries the boys were carrying we were only missing Pony who had to work nights, Greg who decided that he was a gaylord and nearly Lee Matthews when Dewi forgot to pick him up. Caldicot looked a decent side in the warm up and looked to have a pretty big pack so a tough 80 minutes were in store for the players.

Oakdale played down the slope in the first half and started with a conviction that told the supporters that tonight we were going to see some committed play accompanied with attacking flair. It was only the second play of the game when that intent was shown by the home side. Cerrig Wilson took a solid lineout ball and sent Lee Matthews charging at the defence. He popped to Captain, Gavin Hipkiss who sailed through a gap and went hurtling up field. He managed to get right upto the opponent’s 22 when the last defender stood in his way. Gethyn Hockey was there in support but instead of passing to him Hipkiss decided that he would chip the ball over for Hockey to chase. Unfortunately, the kick was more messy that Messi and didn’t go where Gav wanted it to. The Caldicot defence got back and was able to clear their lines but the mood of the game was set.

From the resulting lineout, Anthony Slocombe (yes he’s still alive) failed to get the ball in straight and gave Caldicot a scrum. What Slowkey didn’t give them was an inch when he and his fellow forwards smashed their opponent’s scrum backwards causing chaos along the way. Struggling to gain possession the away side conceded a penalty which gave the points machine, Simon Veall the chance to pass 100 points for the season, which he duly achieved when he slotted through a penalty to take the Dale into the lead at 3-0 after three minutes.

It wasn’t long though until Oakdale gave away their first penalty of the game when they were penalised for being a bit too aggressive at the ruck. This gave Caldicot their first chance of points but their effort sailed wide of the posts even though it was in front of them and with the wind behind their backs.

Super Gavin Hipkiss seemed in the mood for yards when he burst through the defence again on six minutes making another forty yard break and tearing the visitor’s defensive line to shreds. Even though he had team mates in support this time he decided not to kick or pass it and instead took the contact. The ball was spilled onto a defender’s legs and bounced back over the line. Caldicot were first to react and they touched down to give themselves a 22 dropout.

A minute later that Oakdale scrum was dominant again pushing Caldicot back towards their own line but their number 8 did well to pick up and surge forward. This caught the Oakdale defence off guard and they had to scramble back to set their line. The line was set but it wasn’t on equal sides of the pitch and when the visitors went left they had more men than the Dale. Desperate times called for desperate measures and when their outside half decided to make a miss pass Gavin Price gambled and went to intercept the pass. The ball sailed beautifully into his hands and he pinned those ginger ears back and sprinted for the line. There was only one defender tracking back with enough speed to catch Gav and he stopped, started and handed off trying to keep the defender away from him. He managed to do it successfully the third time of asking and had 10 yards left to coast in and score the try. Sensing that he was to add to his try tally for the season he gave a girlie giggle and he went all weak at the thought of adding five points and much to the disgust of the supporters and village as a whole he fumble the ball over the line like a four year old in an egg and spoon race.

From the resulting five metre scrum Oakdale smashed the visitors scrum backwards and their front row rose up into the night sky. The referee had no hesitation in awarding the home side the penalty and the 100 points man, Veall had no hesitation in taking a quick one ‘a la cheese’ and diving over into the corner for Oakdale’s first try of the night. He missed the conversion but Oakdale extended their lead to 8-0.

From a rock solid Oakdale scrum on 20 minutes, Veall floated one of those long passes (which has got all the club talking at the moment) straight in the hands of pretty boy, Josh Thomas. Thomas ghosted through a gap in the defence and went surging downfield in search of more points. He ate up the hard yards and when the time came to beat the last defender with the support of his team mates he decided to ignore the help available to him and take the contact. What his team mates couldn’t take was the fact that he had ignored them when he knocked the ball on and brought a good attacking opportunity, no, a try scoring opportunity to an abrupt end.

Two minutes later Mark Dowden was penalised in the scrum for not binding correctly and once again Caldicot decided to go for the posts. This time they were successful and this brought them into the game at 8-3.

The next ten minutes saw the home side reduced to thirteen men when Gethyn Hockey was yellow carded for not only being offside from a Caldicot penalty but he also got his hands in the wrong place from the ensuing ruck. He was followed from the field by Graham Heath shortly after when he was a naughty boy and used foul and abusive language, not to anyone in particular but just to vent his frustration. The Referee took objection to this and he gave Hector ten minutes on the side. Caldicot took full advantage of the advantage during this phase of play and scored a try wide out, which went unconverted to bring the game level at 8-8.

Even with two men on the side it did not subdue the Oakdale effort and on 33 minutes they got themselves back ahead in an absorbing game. When the Dale put the ball deep inside the visitors 22 they managed to come back but were penalised for going off their feet. Brett Turner took a quick one and sent Lee Matthews charging forward. He popped the ball to Chris Wall who made more yards and when the play broke down Turner then fed Simon Veall. Like Phil Bennett at the start of that Barbarian’s try in 1972 he sidestepped one the sidestepped another and was just yards from the line and only one defender to beat. His next impression was like a D list celebrity in the first week of Dancing On Ice as he lost his balance and went arse over tip. He did though manage to recycle the ball and it was flung out left to Slowkey who showed great hands (were you watching Billy Isgrove?) to flummox the defence, send himself into a gap and then feed Alex Manning who was able to score in the corner. Veall missed the conversion but Oakdale went into the lead with 13 men on the field at 13-8.

HALF TIME – OAKDALE RFC 13 V 8 CALDICOT RFC

The first five minutes of the second half saw Oakdale fling the ball about trying to keep the play alive, running good lines and showing great enthusiasm. This worked in their favour when Caldicot were penalised after being worn down in the scrum and instead of more tries Veall took the penalty which was good and Oakdale extended their first half lead to 16-8.

On 48 minutes Caldicot came storming back with a try. Oakdale lost their own lineout deep in their own 22 and bit by bit the visitors edged closer to the Oakdale line. Even though the Dale defence was strong it took a bit of comedic error to get the visitors over the line. With a yard or two to go and a ruck formed Caldicot put five forwards ready to set a rolling maul but when the ball was passed out they dropped it, then dropped it again. Fortunately for them the ball went back both times but this confusion unsettled the Dale’s defence and a try was conceded. The conversion was more halfbaked than halfpenny but the visitors came back into the game at 16-13.

It was a tense 20 minutes from then on in with Oakdale putting all the pressure on their opponents but not being able to stretch their lead. It was left to Alex Manning on 71 minutes to crash over in the corner after some excellent handling by forwards and backs. Veall put the conversion wide but Oakdale went eight points into the lead at 21-13.

Time was ebbing away for the Dale and the search for that fourth and bonus point try was getting more frantic by the minute. With three minutes left on the clock Veall decided that he would pull another one out of the locker and kick into the corner for his wide men to chase. The kick went nowhere near where it need to go but with a good chase by the wide men to put pressure on the defender an aerial challenge saw the Dale knock the ball on for a defending five metre scrum. Good pressure from the Dale forwards saw the Caldicot number 9 rush his pass which completely missed his intended target and the ball sailed over the dead ball line to give Oakdale the scrum. The solid platform that was set allowed Rhys Vaughan to pass to Veall who floated a pass out to his centres. Those centres ran in opposite directions but Gavin Price came on a straight line to gather the ball and run in unopposed to the try line and score that all important fourth try. Veall converted to make the score a satisfactory 28-13.

With the bonus point in the bag the Dale decided to unleash the psycho and put him on for the last five minutes. Not wanting to disappoint anyone Gareth Evans  got himself yellow card within 120 seconds when he couldn’t be bothered to tackle the man running directly at him and instead stuck his forearm right in the poor lad’s face. Jeff trotted off to a rapturous round of applause and the Ref decided to call it a night shortly after.

FULL TIME – OAKDALE RFC 28 V 13 CALDICOT RFC

This was a game we had to win with a bonus point and win it we did eventually, getting that bonus point with three minutes left on the clock. The spirit and the desire was certainly there in abundance but some poor decision making costs us at least four tries on the night and the score could have been so much more. That being said, some of the breaks we made were the best of the season and the scrum was a delight to behold. Two games left and two bonus point wins will see us promoted to Division Two East. The injuries are mounting up (Roly’s out now) but the so is the team spirit. I won’t quote the words but that song from Yazz and the Plastic People certainly rings true and with Risca up next on Saturday in the Ben Francis Cup Semi Final some of us just don’t want this season to end. Although we can be sure the players are all looking forward to a well-earned rest. Lastly, apologies to Luke and Ged for not mentioning you in the report. I know how all you backs enjoy seeing your name in print………….