Fixture

Oakdale continued their fine form on Saturday when they entertained local rivals Llanhilleth RFC and ran out resounding winners with a 64-14 score line.

It wasn’t long before the Dale recorded their first points of the day, in fact it was less than five minutes when Llanhilleth were penalised for not releasing in the ruck. When they cleared their lines from the resulting penalty the home side managed to gather their line out ball and set the backs on their way. Cripper Davies playing at outside half sent his centres up the middle and when the defence was sucked in Simon Veall found a good amount of space to get the Dale close to the line. When the time was right he fed Josh Thomas who conspired to do himself out of a try by falling over his own feet but his momentum carried him over the line and the first try of the day was put on the board. Veall missed the conversion but Oakdale moved into an early 5-0 lead.

Straight from the kick off Oakdale failed to collect the restart but the ball bounced nicely into Pony’s hands who then fed Dai Fortune. He thought he would show the backs how it is done and chipped over the encroaching defenders. Fortunately for Fortune the ball bounced nicely once again and he gathered, side stepped the fullback and had the legs to run in under the posts for a second try in sixty seconds which Veall converted to extend the home side’s lead to 12-0.

On nine minutes Oakdale scored their third try when Sam Dixon cleared up a loose ball and set off looking for yardage. He fed Simon Veall who was able to put Scott Winnell in lots of space and he ran in unopposed for a converted try and another seven points to make it 19-0 with only ten minutes on the clock.

On 18 minutes the away side were starting to mount some pressure on the Oakdale defence but they fumbled the ball and it went back into Oakdale hands. Brett Turner set the attack in motion and he fed Simon Veall.  Veall ghosted through a gap and the fed Josh Thomas who foiled the defence by selling a dummy and leaving just the one pass that was needed to send the supporting Turner onwards to the line. Just as he was about to score the try he was desperately tackled by the last defender but Turner’s hulking frame and his forward momentum carried him over the line like Thomas earlier to score Oakdale bonus point try within20 minutes. Veall slotted over the conversion and Oakdale went further ahead at 26-0.

On the half hour it was try time again when Mark Dowden managed to rip the ball from a Llan player in a maul. He fed the ball out and it found the man mountain they call Gethyn Hockey who pummelled his way through a defensive gap to gain some good yards. When he was held up he fed Turner who passed to Captain Scott. Knowing his place, Roly motioned to pass out to his quicker team mates but he fooled everyone with a massive dummy and he ran in laughing his cockles off to score his first try of the day which Veall converted to make the score an impressive 31-0 after 33 minutes.

Once again, straight from the kick off, Oakdale scored immediately. Once gathered the ball found Veall who allowed Cripper to burst through a gap and he sent Ged up field. Making the transition to pug ugly forward hadn’t done his attacking instincts any good and no matter how hard he tried to pass the ball it just wouldn’t leave his hands. When it was wrenched out it found its way to Josh Thomas who handed off his defender and he found his way over the line once more. Veall converted the try which extended the Dale’s lead to 38-0.

With two minutes left on the first half clock Oakdale flung the ball around once again and it was the Cripper and Roly show as they combined not once, but twice to send the big man over for his second try of the day which Veall converted to rack up more than a point a minute for the Dale’s first half efforts and the score stood at 45-0 on forty minutes.

Three minutes into injury time Oakdale messed up their first half performance completely when they conceded their first points of the half. With the Llan looking for points they attacked the Oakdale line hard and with one deft grubber kick through the Oakdale defence their winger had the relatively easy task to run behind and score. The try was converted which ended the half on a sour note for the home side.

HALF TIME – OAKDALE RFC 45 V 7 LLANHILLETH RFC

Eight minutes into the second half there were smiles all round when Oakdale were awarded a penalty. Veall kicked deep into the visitor’s 22 and from the resulting lineout, Ceiran Jenkins threw in and found Gethyn Hockey at full stretch. In mid-air, he tapped the ball down for a wrap-around run from Captain Scott and with two yards to go with two defenders in his way there was only ever going to be one winner and Pretty Boy Evans scored his hat-trick try. Getting to his feet with a smile as big as can be he proudly held aloft three fingers so that everyone at the game knew that he had got that hat-trick. Veall put the ball through the posts for a further two points and Oakdale surged further ahead to 52-7.

Oakdale seemed to huff and puff their way through the next 20 minutes and a few wrong decisions conspired to halt the rate of scoring. Five substitutes also affected the flow. Not at all by the quality of replacements, each of them brought an added quality to the side, but play did seem to stagnate for some reason. Cripper Davies though, got the Dale back in scoring mode on 71 minutes when he set a backs move in motion and when the ball was held up he was there in good support. With the ball back in his hands he motioned for an inside pass but sold a good dummy and then used those dancing feet of his to side step the last defender and score under the posts. Veall refused to let him convert his own try but stuck the conversion over himself which extended the home side’s lead to 59-7.

I then had to leave to go and cook the chips and curry but I was told that Llan managed to score a try and conversion of their own but to finish it off Scott Winnell rounded off a good day for the home side by scoring their tenth try of the day which went unconverted but put the seal on a good all round performance from the twenty man squad.

FULLTIME – OAKDALE RFC 64 V 14 LLANHILLETH RFC

I would like to profusely apologise for any offence caused by last week’s report. Yes, I managed to refrain from calling Monmouth an ‘English’ side but the very stern wording of the complaint letters I received from Age Concern and from Help the Aged means I will not be entering into any age related banter in future reports. 

Dai Fortune though, he is still a CCCcccuuuunnnnn…………

‘The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.’

Norman Vincent Peale