TORFAEN TIGERS 14 VALLEY COUGARS 28

Torfaen Tigers gave Valley Cougars a tough game in Cwmbran on Friday night and whilst the Cougars’ win didn’t look in doubt for most of the second half, the home side never gave up and a 28-14 scoreline was a fair result.

The match was played in tough wet conditions which is why Torfaen took the two to take the lead early on, as Ash Goose slotted home a penalty.

But Cougars were soon on the board as Rhys Davies went over in the corner for their first try which Ben Jones converted.

Ross Price caught a high bomb for Cougars’ second try. Jones converted again to make the score 12-2.

There could have been a third just before the break but player-coach Dafydd Hallard couldn’t outrun the Tigers defence whilst going uphill. His metres led to another chance which was illegally stopped by Jake Thomas who was sent to the sin bin for his troubles.

Torfaen were still down to 12 men as the Cougars put the game out of their reach. Mike Hurley ran through for their third, seven minutes into the second half. Jones converted before sprinting onto his own long kick in the first set after kick off and again adding the goal.

The home side didn’t give up. Ben Williams darted over from dummy half and Goode converted but Cougars addressed the balance again after Craig Lewis scored in the corner. Jones’ kick was wide but being 28-8 up with less than ten minutes go, the game was secure.

However Torfaen again fought back again. Williams grabbed another with Goode converting.

Cougars could have add another try in the final play of the game but a good cross-field passing move ended in a dropped ball.