Fixture

After a 29 year hoodoo was broken last week, Oakdale were looking to smash more unwanted records on Saturday when they travelled to the bright lights of The Broadway to face Caerleon in a six pointer league match. That unwanted record was the grand total of 721 days, can you guess what it is?

The game didn’t start at 14:30, that was because the Referee took offence to Oakdale having too many ‘subs’ changed. Now he wasn’t to know that we don’t feel the cold up the Dale and we all like to wear shorts in Baltic weather. As much as we tried to explain this, he wasn’t having none of it and the 87 lads who came in their shorts had to trundle back to the changing rooms to put something ‘warmer’ on.

When the first whistle finally blew the play, and the territory were evenly matched, most of it in the midfield with both teams defending well. Good piercing runs from the Oakdale forwards tried to send Caerleon onto the back foot, but they stayed strong, and yards were only temporarily gained when each side kicked through.

Oakdale wasted two penalty kicks to touch which would have taken them into the opposition 22 and it wasn’t until the 10^th minute that any side’s 22 metre line was broached. This resulted in a kick from Nye Williams deep towards the corner flag and the resulting kick out to touch found Oakdale with a scoring opportunity.

Caerleon managed to steal the ball at the lineout and clear their lines but when play moved back in field they were penalised for a high tackle just inside their 10-metre line. Danny ‘not that long’ Dog lined up the kick at goal, but his effort sailed just past the left hand upright and the scores remained at 0-0.

On 21 minutes Caerleon put an innocuous kick through which Luke Lovell went to collect. Luke didn’t have the time to clear his lines as the Referee blew his whistle for an infringement most of the spectators did not see. The VEO showed it was Evan Miles blocking off the run of an encroaching Caerleon player and Miles must have been said something in a reaction to the call as the Man with the Whistle didn’t stop walking and marched Oakdale further back into their 22. The penalty was in front of the posts and the home side had no hesitation in taking the three-point option which went through the uprights to take Caerleon into a 3-0 lead.

With 29 minutes gone Oakdale found themselves with a good spell inside the Caerleon 22. Numerous phases took them from one side of the field to the other. With the line in sight, they construed to lose possession but when Caerleon threw the ball back over their own line to get the ball off the field their player fumbled and there was Evan Fears to pounce on the loose ball for what everyone though was Oakdale’s first try of the day. Unfortunately, the referee saw an infringement at the previous breakdown and awarded the home side a penalty on their own five metre line.

That was it for the first half, quite a struggle for any side to exert dominance over the other. Both sides were still in the game, and it was there for the taking for both Oakdale and their hosts.

HALF TIME – Caerleon 3 v 0 Oakdale

The start of the second half played out just like the first with the majority of play being centred between the 22 metre lines and consisted mainly of knock ons and conceded penalties (practically all by Caerleon). It wasn’t until the 57^th minute that an attack of any worth happened and it just happened to be made by Oakdale.

From a scrum in their own 22, Morgan Yemm picked up from the base of the scrum and went looking for their 10. Scrum Half, Dylan Jones was first to the break down and he fed Nye Williams who slung a long pass out to put David James into space. James ate up the yards quicker than his brother can eat pies and then drew his man and fed Lovell who drew his man and sent Dan Prosser on his way with a clear view to the goal line.

With a desperate and very scrambled defence trying to get back to stop the Oakdale attack, Prosser had no option other than to kick ahead and chase the ball. The chase though ended abruptly when the (very inexperienced) Caerleon winger completely took Dan out of the game with probably the game’s most pertinent example of shithousery. The Oakdale supporter’s arms went up like a gospel choir but for some reason the Ref did not show a yellow card to the offending player. News came through later that his shorts might have been a little tight and his wasn’t able to get the card out in time.

Williams sent the ball into the corner with the penalty and a front ball move at the lineout secured the ball for Oakdale. Caerleon though were resolute in defence and managed to pinch possession but Oakdale calmly ushered the ball carrier into touch, 2 yards from the line.

The second lineout went to the middle and Miles gathered and fed Scott Hoskins, who, for some reason, was lurking in the 9 spot. Rather than take the whole of Caerleon over the line with him, Hoskins fed David James who, for some reason was lurking in the 10 spot. Rather than take the whole of Caerleon over the line with him he fed his brother, Trevor, and if there is anyone to take the whole of Caerleon over the line, it was going to be Trev. But no, James fed Harri Price who had just come on to the field and whether his fetlocks weren’t warmed up or not, he was not able to crash over the 112 centimetres that separated him from the tryline. He didn’t let go of possession when a Caerleon player politely asked him do so and Oakdale’s best scoring chance of the game went away from them when they conceded a penalty inches short of the whitewash (notice the use of imperial and metric there?)

On 64 minutes Oakdale gathered a clean lineout ball and went looking for yards. First they sent Harri Price through the midfield and then James Thomas punched a hole or two. Liam Price added his usual ‘run through a wall’ style of play before the Referee raised the right arm to indicate an infringement by Caerleon. With the ball just outside the 15-metre line and within touching distance of the 22, Hoskins signalled to the posts. Prosser was calm in his execution and brought Oakdale level with a successful penalty attempt to make the score 3-3.

From the resulting kick off, Morgan Yemm gathered and took the play straight back to Caerleon. The home side conceded another penalty but Oakdale decided to play on and Evan Miles broke through the defence and set Trevor James on his way. Trev must have had a stone in his shoe because the way he flummoxed the onrushing defender, it could never have been a sidestep. Without the gas to make it all the way to the line, James kicked through and the ball landed a metre from the Caerleon line. With a defender there to drop on the ball, Nye Williams was there immediately to make a nuisance of himself and force a mistake which resulted in an Oakdale scrum on the Caerleon 5 metre line.

Hoskins’s men decided it would be walkover time and although they did manage to shove the Caerleon pack backwards they could not get the ball over the line. Jones then fed Trevor at 10 and he went looking for five points of his own. Caerleon though were resolute and with two defenders crashing into James at the same time, the ball popped out of his grasp and Caerleon managed to keep the scores level.

With eighty minutes and four seconds on the clock, Caerleon threw into a lineout near to the Oakdale 22 line. They gathered and went looking for space in the middle of Oakdale defensive back line. What they found was a team willing to defend right up until the final whistle and Oakdale snatched possession kicked the ball down field to alleviate the pressure. It felt like a draw was going to be the natural conclusion when, from the next breakdown, Caerleon kicked it forward to take the ball back into Oakdale territory.

Lovell gathered and he threw a long pass out to Nye Williams and he was eyes forward at all times looking at the encroaching Caerleon defenders. Williams drew his man and fed David James who, like the jazz handed maestro he is, threw a massive dummy to set two Caerloen players off on a course that would only bring misery. The field opened up for James and there was only one more defender to beat. With Prosser outside of him in support James had the sense to draw the man but his pass was more like from a ‘Jizz’ handed maestro and it took an age to get into Prosser’s hands. So much time that the defender was able to cover the ground and tackle Prosser.

James must have known what he was doing because, as Prosser was falling to the floor he had the sense to flick the ball out of his back pocket and James had looped around to gather. With 81 minutes on the clock, James had ten steps to make it over the line and he cantered there like a fine Peruvian stallion to snatch the victory in the dying seconds. Prosser conversion attempt hugged the touchline but although he struck a beautiful kick, the ball fell just short of the posts but Oakdale crept ahead with an 8-3 scoreline.

All Oakdale had to do was manage the minutes left in injury time and then a second victory in two weeks would be theirs. It was going to be a tense few minutes for all connected with the Club and when Caerleon restarted everyone wished for the end to come. Even though it was a good restart, Oakdale managed to gather and the ball was fed out to Nye Williams who launched it into touch hoping that the Ref would blow for full time. Much to everyone’s delight the shrill of the whistle echoed around the field and the victory went to the Dale.

It wasn’t a classic but then again, who cares. Points will be hard to come by for the rest of the season and we will take any where we can get them. It’s nearly nosebleed time as we sit in eighth place and with a home game against the bottom side Pill Harriers up next who knows where we could end up.

Fair play to Caerleon, they always defend well and attack with speed. It’s probably two from five now for the drop as Croesy always fall off towards the end of the season. All we have to do is stay together, keep taking the direction of the coaches and enjoy being part of a close-knit team. Everyone in the Club is proud of you Gents.

FULL TIME – Caerleon 3 v 8 Oakdale

COST OF ENTRY TO THE GAME – Whatever you wanted it to be. There are no turnstiles at The Broadway, just open space. Genuine rugby supporters were happy to dig into their pockets when the Caerleon committee man rattled his box in front of their noses. Me? I just stepped out onto the public pathway and got away without paying, cha-ching!!

QUALITY OF MATCH DAY PROGRAMME – Not a club that does matchday programme these days, if they can’t run a gate then why do a programme? Fortunately, it gave the opportunity to read last week’s match report, which as we all know, was a cracker.

QUALITY OF THE AFTERMATCH MEAL – Probably, one of the biggest talking points of the day. As we discussed the day’s events we were all seduced by the pungent beefy aroma emanating from the small room in the corner. Was it going to be Beef Bourguignon? Maybe Beef Madras? No, it was Chicken Curry and rice, it was culinary sorcery to say the least!. As you ate it, you thought you were immersed in a Bisto haze but there was no beef there, nowhere. It was though, a tasty meal, even the crunchy bits of rice added to the experience. I did enjoy it but only after a second portion just to make sure.

FINAL THOUGHTS – Did you guess right? What was the record that had lasted 721 days? It was the last time Oakdale had won two games in a row. On the 18^th of December 2021 we beat Abergavenny at Bailey Park by 29 points to 18 and then on the 15^th of January we beat Caerleon, again at The Broadway by an impressive 41 points to 7. It’s odd to say that those lean times haven’t been unhappy times, in fact when we were more successful there were instances where the feeling throughout the club sometimes ran sour. We now have a group who are progressing and developing, the future is bright, the future is red and white. Adios amigos.