VALLEY COUGARS 48 ALL GOLDS CLS 0

By Chris Wilson at Treharris RFC

Hat-tricks from wing Lewis Phillips and second row Sion Jones eased Valley Cougars to an easy win over the All Golds at Treharris to go top of Conference League South with one game to go.

They were in charge from the first minute when Shane Lee took advantage of neat interplay down the right to cross in the corner, Mike Hurley adding the first of his six goals.

The Cougars dominated possession and territory thanks to the powerful running by their pack and the scores flowed at regular intervals during the match.

There were a few errors particularly with the timing of passes from dummy half and perhaps a few too many penalties but the pink defensive wall was in place and though the All Golds had chances to score there was simply no way through.

Phillips posted his three tries before half time the first coming from Lee’s short pass and the others after the Cougars had been gifted field position by All Golds errors.

After 23 minutes a scrum move worked to perfection and Phillips had a simple job to touch down and seven minutes later, he was on the end of more good handling to send the Cougars in 20-0 to the good at the interval.

The second half saw more of the same. The All Golds battled hard but lacked the finesse to break through though hooker Luke Stephens was held up over the line.

Despite having Lee sent to the sin bin for a late tackle on Archie Gibbs, the Cougars steadily built on their lead.

Jones forced his way over for his first try on the last tackle after 54 minutes and repeated the trick for his second three minutes later.

Rhys Davies then powered through the middle on a 50-metre charge to the line stepping the valiant Kieran Webb on the way before Jones finished a set started by Phillips’ searing break up the middle.

Jack Watkins finished the scoring with three minutes to go again the forwards combining with excellent offloads to crack the All Golds rearguard which by now was wilting badly.

The win, coupled with Nottingham’s win over the London Chargers sends the Cougars to the top as they look to regain their title.

Teams:

COUGARS: Ben Jones; Lewis Phillips, Mike Hurley, Liam Watton, Adam Watton; Kristian Baller, Shane Lee; Rhys Davies, Dean Higgs, Ethan Coombs; Sion Jones, Dafydd Hellard; Scott Britton (Capt.); INTERCHANGE: Jack Watkins, Ross Price, Adam Morgan, Rhodri Morris.

Scorers:

Tries; Shane Lee (1), Lewis Phillips (12, 23, 30), Sion Jones (54, 57, 74), Rhys Davies (70), Jack Watkins (77)

Goals; Mike Hurley 6 from 9

ALL GOLDS: Kieran Webb; Andy Gamble, Aedan Coleman, Jacob Brennan, Kyle Rose; James Watkins, Archie Gibbs; Callum Bradbury (Capt.), Luke Stephens, Wijnand Wormhoudt; Chris True, Andrew Evans; Ryan Lewis; INTERCHANGE; George Bidwell-Ford, Mitchell Dent.

Scoring sequence: 6-0, 10-0, 14-0, 20-0, (HT), 24-0, 30-0, 36-0, 42-0, 48-0, (FT)

Penalties: 5-11

Referee: Dean Bowmer (RFL Appointment)