Division Two West Central

Cwmgors 14 Maesteg 32

A gentle breeze blowing down the valley can be transformed into hurricane proportions at Cwmgors’ Maerdy pitch and so it turned out on Saturday where the host battled manfully into a first half gale while taking on the league leaders.

Maesteg played the tricky conditions well early on.

The visitors edged in front courtesy of a penalty before a somewhat fortunate charge-down resulted in the opening try.

A successful conversion, followed by another penalty and then a second try, gave them a comfortable lead before the Cherries got themselves on the scoresheet when, after some excellent forward pressure, flanker and man of the match Ioan Davies crashed over under the posts. Steff Rees stepped up and converted.

On the stroke of half-time, Maesteg got the rub of the green once more when a loose bouncing ball went straight to visitors’ hands to gift them a third touchdown.

Trailing 25-7 at the break, Cwmgors came out looking to make more of a game of it in the second half and use the conditions to their advantage,

A ding-dong 40 minutes saw Cwm pinning Maesteg back for a period with the forwards creating the platform for scrum-half Caron Jones to finish off in the corner. Rees took full advantage of the wind to earn the extras with a brilliant conversion from the far touchline.

Maesteg managed to grab a fourth try and a bonus-point before the final whistle, but the Cherries can take credit from a fine team performance against the best side in the division.

Cwmgors travel to Aberavon Quins on Saturday.