Fixture

It was great to get back to rugby this morning, it was an early kick off but there was plenty of activity at the Recreation ground where we welcomed Senghenydd.  It was good to see a good turnout of old and new players -

• Evan Evans, Liam Haynes, Ethan Walker, Harvey Lyons and Rhegan McCulloch.

The game was played as 10 a side to accommodate the visitors who won the toss and started the game.  Oakdale started the better and made the most of the space on the larger pitch.  William Davey looked as though he was going to open the scoring but he was just short.  Dale regained possession and it was Dafydd Price who took the first try which was converted by Oliver Cooke, 7-0. Thomas Gregory chased the ball from the restart and passed to Zac Tucker for the second try, conversion Oliver Cooke,14-0.  Senghenydd kept persisting, a knock on gave the scrum to the Dale, Jordan Way hooked the ball back and it was fed out to Oliver Cooke and onto William Davey, who this time made sure he crossed that try line, converted Oliver Cooke, 21-0.  Senghenydd took the ball from the restart but were unable to keep possession with Jordan Way steeling the loose ball, this time we saw new team member Ethan Walker cross the line, conversion Oliver Cooke, 28-0. Another pick up from the restart by Thomas Gregory saw him pop through the Senghenydd defence to score, conversion Oliver Cooke, 35-0.  Very quickly the Dale were heading for the touch line and this time it was James Williams who scored, conversion Oliver Cooke, 42-0.  Senghenydd were determined to be on the score board before half time scoring a converted try, but it was Oakdale who claimed the last points of the half with a try from Connor Thomas, 47-7.

Half Time Oakdale 47 - Senghenydd 7

Dale started the second half, Oliver Cooke chased down the ball picked it up and crossed the try line, no conversion, 52-7. Senghenydd responded with a converted try, 52-14.  Excellent passing and teamwork saw the ball fed along the pitch out to Dafydd who was able to outpace the defence to score, conversion Oliver Cooke, 59-14.  Senghenydd kept the pressure on and scored, 59-21.  The Dale found themselves on the own line, Liam Haynes took the ball, passing to Rhegan McCulloch and out to Dafydd Price for his hat trick, conversion Oliver Cooke, 66-21.  An excellent converted try from Senghenydd brought the score to 66-28.  Again the Dale stole the ball on their line, great passing through the team allowing Thomas Gregory to run in his second try, Logan Taylor Conversion. 73-28.  Passing was excellent this morning, Thomas was off for another try, the Senghenydd defence stopped him, he was able to offload to Logan Taylor for his to score the final try and take the conversion, 80-28.

Man of the Match – Oliver Cooke