Fixture

Now, if you read that title and then sang ‘don’t go away, I need your loving every day’ you would be over a half of a century old and possibly a fan of the nine-piece British doo-wop revival band, Darts, who scored chart success with their cover of the 1958 Wrens classic with the same title. If that is you, then yesterday’s game at the Recreation Ground would not have been good for the old ticker as both sides played out a pulsating encounter, chasing vital points to stave off the threat of relegation.

After winning the last two league games (did we tell you we beat Blackwood?) confidence was high within the Oakdale camp and focus did not slip after an eleventh-hour change of pitch because Pontllanfraith viciously sabotaged their own showers to prevent Oakdale playing on the Welfare ground.

In footballing terms this really was a six pointer, lose today and matters would be much more difficult to stay in Division Two (East) at the end of the season. Win, and you would put some daylight between yourself and the bottom two. It was all to play for.

The opening salvos, from both sides, were good and it was Pill who had the first chance to score points when Oakdale were penalised for not moving away from the ruck. The kick out wide was good and the away side moved into a 3-0 lead on four minutes.

Pill were enjoying more possession and territory than their hosts without dominating the game but when Oakdale gave away what seemed to be an innocuous penalty for a high tackle on 12 minutes it gave the away team their second chance of points. Their 9 made no mistake and Pill stretched their lead to 6-0.

With Trevor receiving his obligatory yellow card on 15 minutes, Oakdale did well to restrict the further flow of points conceded with some resolute defending. It was though with twenty-three minutes on the clock that Oakdale managed to get into the opposition 22 for the first time. From a ruck, Dylan Jones fed Billy Isgrove and with his jazz hands he missed one and fed full back Luke Lovell, lurking on the wing. Luke skilfully evaded two defenders and set himself a course straight to the line. It was though a single frantic Pill defender who managed to get across in time to tackle Luke into touch.

When Pill cleared the lines from the resulting lineout, it gave Oakdale another platform to attack. With the lineout successfully won, Dylan Jones probed the midfield. When he was brought down, the ball came back the way it came from with Mark Dowden feeding Morgan Yemm. Yemm drew his man and the ball found Billy Isgrove, ON THE WING (WTF?). Isgrove showed good muscle memory from when he was a slip of a lad and deftly put in a left footed chip to keep the attack alive. Oakdale charged towards the line looking for their first points but Pill somehow managed to regroup, defend the ruck and get the ball off the pitch.

With Oakdale now finding themselves at home in the opposition half, particularly their 22, it was only a matter of time before their first opportunity to score points would come. That occurred in the 28^th minute when Pill were penalised for going off their feet in a ruck. As Moler trotted on with the kicking tee, he was ushered away by Captain, Scott Hoskins who instead instructed Danny Prosser to kick to the corner. (You should have seen Moler’s face, a right picture) With the lineout successfully won, Oakdale’s maul was sacked to the floor immediately but they broke away and trundled on towards the line. A couple of darts from the forwards did not manage to cross the whitewash so the ball was flung out to the backs. Harri Price found himself in possession but for the second game in a row he got inches away from the line but was then penalised for not releasing.

On 36 minutes Pill were awarded a penalty with Oakdale straying offside at the ruck. A further three points would have been unjust on Oakdale as they were the dominant side in the second half of the first period and their luck was in as the Pill attempt struck the upright and Oakdale cleared their lines.

With the first half ebbing into injury time, Oakdale launched one more attack when a Pill lineout went awry. Hoskins fell on the loose ball and his teammates were there in close support to steady the ruck. Dylan fed Morgan Yemm who headed straight for a gap taking out two defenders but still had the ability to feed Jacob Rees. Rees, making his debut for the club, sprinted towards the line and was brought down just short of the Pill five metre line. Surges towards the line were made by Dowden, Hoskins, Trevor and his brother Dai but Pill held strong until Hoskins got his hands on the ball once more and broke the failing defence to crash over the line for Oakdale first try of the day. Prosser pushed the conversion just to the right and as the ball sailed past the posts the Referee blew for half time.

HALF TIME – OAKDALE 5 v 6 PILL HARRIERS

There was a feeling on the side of the pitch that ‘it would come’ in the second half as Oakdale were playing themselves more into the game as the minutes progressed There was a quiet confidence that the scoreboard would soon be turning on the Oakdale side. The scoreboard though turned over on the opposition side with less than two minutes of the second half played. A move which started just inside their own half saw Pill eat up the yards with good support but Oakdale managed to take the ball carrier to the floor. Attacking the blind side each time there was not an inch to spare as they crashed over the line. They sent the corner flag flying but the Referee had no hesitation in awarding Pill their first try of the day. There was a long stoppage before the conversion was taken as Harri Price had to exit the field of play but the touchline conversion was an excellent one and Pill extended their lead to 13 points to 5.

Pill were now high on confidence and when Hoskins conceded a penalty inside his 22, their Captain instructed their dependable goal kicker not to go for the posts but for the corner instead. Their lineout throw went to the back of the lineout so a driving maul could catch Oakdale light in defence and it worked as one drive further saw them score their second try of the day which again, was converted to extend the opposition lead to 20 points to 5 with 48 minutes gone.

From an Oakdale lineout in the Pill 22 on 52 minutes, the backs constructed a move to find that gap to penetrate the away side’s defence. With a couple of dummy runs and a loop around the ball found Luke Lovell but a strong tackle knocked the ball out of his hands. Pill gathered and slung the ball out wide to their backs. The simple process of drawing a man and then passing saw their winger set free and he ate up the yards all the way to the Oakdale 22. With only one defender to beat he made his coaches smile with that simple process again to put his supporting teammate in the clear with a simple line straight to the posts. An easy conversion was made and the colour started draining out of the Oakdale supporter’s faces as the scoreline was extended to 27 points to 5 in favour of the away team.

From the restart, Oakdale were a transformed side. They harried and hustled the opposition into making a mistake and then they went looking for points of their own. Good penetrating runs from Hoskins, Yemm and Dowden softened the defence up and when Dylan passed to Trevor in the 10 position he had the nous to pop it back inside for his brother who took an excellent line. He broke the defence, side stepped their full back and dived under the posts with aplomb. Prosser added the conversion and Oakdale closed the gap to 27-12 with twenty-five minutes still to go.

When the kick off was successfully gathered, Oakdale charged right back up the field with some good handling by the backs. Pill conceded a penalty at the ruck and Prosser kicked deep to the corner. Oakdale gathered their own ball and their maul took them right up to the Pill five metre line. Crash ball runs from the James brothers failed to get Oakdale over the line but Pill conceded another penalty right under their posts. With a Pill player yellow carded for a deliberate knock on, Oakdale decided that they would forego the easy three-point opportunity in search of more tries. With the scrum won, scrum half Jones fed Trevor who thought his considerable frame would get him over the line. When he was taken to the floor, Jones fed David James who had the simple task of putting second debutant, Justin Parker in space for him to do a Chris Ashton-esque dive over the line for Oakdale’s third try. Prosser missed with the conversion but the scoreline narrowed to 27-17 with 17 minutes left on the clock.

Straight from the kick off Oakdale pushed the ball back up into the Pill territory with a good kick from David James. Even though Pill secured their own ball it was stolen in the maul and Oakdale ploughed on up the field. The ball was fed out to the backs and good hands set Parker free on the wing. If three of the Pill players didn’t choose to take offence to Luke Lovell’s boyish good looks they would have been able to get back and defend as Oakdale were charging towards the Pill whitewash. Held up just short they heeded the calls of coach Scott Fears, which was ‘Patience, Patience’. Jones at scrum half managed the play well to send successive Oakdale surges towards the Pill line and when substitute, Jason Jones, with his gleaming clean kit took the ball there was only one outcome, BONUS POINT TRY TIME as he crashed over the line for Oakdale’s fourth try of the day. Calls were made to Blackwood Police Station for noise disturbance such was the cheer Oakdale supporters made when the try was scored. Prosser was agonisingly close with his conversion attempt as the upright was struck for the second time in the game but Oakdale crept ever closer to their opposition with the scoreline now standing at 27-22 with 13 minutes left in the game.

Oakdale were now enjoying the majority of possession and territory and had no hesitation in throwing the muddy ball around trying to seek that inch of space that would bring them back further into the game. With six minutes left, Phillip ‘Lenny’ Leonard, making his 50^th appearance for the club managed to pinch a ball at the lineout and Isgrove fed Jones at scrum half. Jones fed Trevor and he went looking for that gap which had eluded him all day. James had the strength to bump off two defenders and knowing his weary knees would not carry him to the line he looked for youth in the form of Caian Rees. Rees gathered the ball and it was a straight foot race to the line between him and two defenders. With each step the noise from the side grew louder and everyone urged Caian over the line. The yards turned to feet and then to inches as the tackles came in, but it was too late, Rees crashed over the line for his first try for the club and the floor shook with the elation of everyone who was at the ground, Oakdale had scored 22 unanswered points to level the game at 27-27. David James brushed aside Prosser and claimed the ball for the conversion. James’s attempt just missed the left upright and the scores remained the same with four minutes of time left.

With the game hanging evenly in the balance, both sides went in search of the victory. Neither wanted to make a mistake and that old game of kicking ping pong was commenced but it was Oakdale who seemed to have more in the tank and chased their kicks more effectively. Matters, though, weren’t helped when Corey Thomas was yellow carded for an offence at the ruck with three minutes left and Pill sent the ball downfield.

Pill managed a good period of possession and pummelled the Oakdale defence but after clawing their way back into the game there was no way an inch would be given by the home defence and after several phases of play Oakdale won a penalty for holding on at the ruck. With time ebbing away the sensible option would have been to kick for territory and launch one more attack but as the Oakdale players looked to get their breath back, David James tapped and went off on his own. James was floored by the first tackle and with no supporting teammates with him, he conceded a penalty for not releasing himself. The groans around the pitch were palpable, had James handed the game to the opposition knowing that their number nine was a fine penalty converter?

The Oakdale supporters were trying as much as they could to influence the outcome of the next kick. Breaths were held, fingers crossed and eyes looked to the sky as the Pill number 9 shaped to take his penalty attempt. There were 40 minutes and 51 seconds on the clock as the ball was struck and it sailed high AND WIDE! The score remained at 27-27.

Trevor sent the drop out long and Pill gathered the ball just inside their 10-metre line. Pill chose to attack the far side of the field and a robust Oakdale defence were there tackling tenaciously. Pill though found a gap and sent one of their players down the far touchline. With only Dan to beat, he stepped inside Prosser’s tackle but Dan got enough contact on the attacker that the ball spilled loose and with that the Referee put his whistle to his lips and blew for full time.

FULL TIME – OAKDALE 27 v 27 PILL HARRIERS

COST OF ENTRY TO THE GAME - £3.00 Fair play to the Pill supporters no-one complained. There was one sarky beggar who asked if he could pay by card. The Chairman offered to escort him back up to the Club to pay but instead he opened his wallet and showed a wad of cash. Some people eh!

QUALITY OF MATCHDAY PROGRAMME – Superb, best in the league (now Talywain are not in it)

QUALITY OF AFTERMATCH MEAL – We’ve only gone and added a third and fourth option to our after-match offering. Not only do we do sausage, beans and chips plus sausage, curry and chips we now offer sausage and chips and even chips and sausage, where will it end. Quality catering to say the least.

FINAL THOUGHTS - PHEW! What a comeback. This was up there with the Blackwood victory (did we say we beat Blackwood?). It was testament to this team that they were disappointed at the final huddle but to come back and close a deficit of 22 points shows how together the team and are playing for one another. The fact that we got the bonus try point means that we stay one point ahead of Pill and three ahead of Caerleon and up next, is the team directly above us and who we have our next sights set on, Caldicot RFC. Another six pointer, another big test but we will go there looking to do the double on them.

A big thank you to our opposition, Pill Harriers, for the game. Conversely, they must have been disappointed to have thrown away a lead of 22 points. Good to see a sizeable crowd come back to the club after the match and Man of the Match awards were presented to players of both sides. Good luck for the rest of the season (as long as we finish above you).

For those stat fans, the last time Oakdale went three games without losing was October/November 2021 when we won two friendlies (Risca and Crumlin) and a further league game (Caldicot), a full twenty-six months ago, hats off to you gentlemen!!