Fixture

With regular coaches Adam and Lee away this weekend with rumours that they were away advising Welsh coach Rob Howley on selection and tactics ahead of next weeks Six Nations showdown with Scotland it was left to Gareth Tudbull to look after the Under 8's.

In typical teacher like fashion the boys were warmed up and drilled with precise planning and discipline leaving some of the parents wondering whether they would have the energy to get through the match after such a vigarous warm-up.

However, this seemed to pay off as Oakdale were quick out of the blocks with Gethin Tudbull taking a pass from kick-off to take the ball into the Abercarn half before a tag prevented him scoring.  Some quick thinking by him saw him pass to Ioan Herbert who weaved his way to the line to score the opening try of the match.

Oakdale 1 - Abercarn 0

Abercarn were quick to respond and scored almost instantly in reply.

Oakdale 1 - Abercarn 1

Oakdale re-started the match, Jacob James evaded the Abercarn defence, who passed to Ioan Herbert in support who took the ball from the right side of the pitch over to the left, he put in a pass to Ruben Williams who switched the play to side step the rushing defence to score  to make it Oakdale 2 Abercarn 1.

Oakdale were now in the groove and all the boys were keen to get their on hands on the ball, Jacob James and Ioan Herbert were again archecturial in Oakdales 3rd try combining well before Rhys Gammage took a try scoring pass and skipped pass the covering defence to score Oakdales 3rd try.

Oakdale 3 Abercarn 1

There was no sign of Oakdale easing of the gas as Ruben Williams was on the hunt for more tries as he raced to the line to score his second try of the match to make it 4-1

Abercarn refused to give up and got a try back to make it Oakdale 4 Abercarn 2

With the first quarter coming to a close Abercarn spilled the ball in midfield, like a jack in the box Gethin Tudbull was the first one to re-act and as the he looked up the pitch opened up like Moses parting the red sea, pinning his ears back he raced to the line to make the game Oakdale 5 - Abercarn 2

Second Quarter

With both sides making changes to the starting line up it was Abercarn who started the second quarter stronger scoring an instant try to put pressure on Oakdale.

Oakdale had the perfect response as Charlie Williams started a run up the right wing and with a only the width of a blade of grass between him and the touch line somehow managed to evade going into touch something which the magician Shane Williams would have been proud of to score a fantastic solo try.

Abercarn refused to give up and in true fighting spirit scored two unanswered tries to make sure Oakdale knew they were still in a game. Joseph Bonnici took a pass and went through the smallest of gaps in midfield and showed the defence a clean pair of heels to score.

Oakdale 7 - Abercarn 5

Abercarn again came back at Oakdale to score to make it 7-6 and it was only some good defence from Oakdale which prevented them from drawing level.

After some turn over ball Ioan Herbert skipped past a number of Abercarn defenders, before offloading to Charlie Williams, who put in a lovely floated pass to Brayley Williams-Price and once the ball was in his hands there was no way the chasing defenders were going to catch him.

Oakdale 8 - Abercarn 6

Before the end of the quarter Abercarn pulled one back.

Oakdale 8 - Abercarn 7

Third Quarter

Oakdale proved to strong for Abercarn in this period who scored three unaswered tries to pull away from Abercarn, with tries coming from Brayley Williams-Price, once again Gethin Tudbull pounced on a spilt ball to score his second of the match.

Gethin was not done yet with his third trying coming after Tyler Symons bobbed and weaved past the Abercarn defence to give the assist for Gethin Tudbulls third try,

Fourth Quarter

It was Abercarn who scored the opening try of the quarter, and they could have scored more if it was not for resolute defence with some brilliant tags from Pacey Jayne, Williams Lewis and Gethin Tudbull preventing Abercarn scoring anymore.

As the game came to a close Oakdale were looking to finish the game off, Iestyn Dalton passed the ball to Gethin Tudbull and despite a wall of defenders in his way managed to make his way through the crowd evading any tags to score the final try of the day.

The game finished Oakdale 12 Abercarn 8.

The only thing left was for Martyn and Gareth to award this weeks man of the match which would have been a tough choice as all the boys put in a fabulous shift, with them deciding this weeks man of the match was Joseph Bonnici.

Oakdales try scorers were

Gethin Tudbull x 4

Ruben Williams x 2

Brayley Williams-Price x 2

Ioan Herbert

Jacob James

Rhys Gammage

Joseph Bonnici

A big thank you to Martyn who refed the game without him it would not have been played, and for Gareth who took charge of the under 8's today and can boast of a  100% win record for the under 8's

The boys did Adam and Lee proud today keep up the effort lads well done.