Winning End To The Season

The Young Ospreys under 18 team brought the curtain down on a successful season by beating their Scarlets opponents by 39 points to 28 at Narberth RFC on Monday 10^th April. During the season the team won 8 matches (including Reebok Championship) and lost 3 while using over 40 players; also eight members of the squad have won International honours in their age group.

Prior to the match it seemed there was a case of "Scarlet Fever" from Bridgend based players and Team Manager John Davies was forced to ring the changes. However, sport is all about taking the opportunities that might come your way and a number of players were able to make a positive statement to coaches Phil John and Ian Hembrow.

The Ospreys opened the scoring with the first of two well struck drop goals from outside half Dane Clancy; his total points haul for the night was 24 from an additional 3 penalties, 2 conversions and a try. Wing Craig Chalmers went over for a brace of tries which were created for him by Porthcawl pair hooker Paul John and centre Scott Robinson. John made a splendid 25 metre break before giving Chalmers the ball to sprint a further 20, while Robinson's deftly placed cross kick allowed Chalmers the opportunity to gather the loose ball and dive in at the corner. The last try was scored by centre Liam Price who has flourished in recent games as he has been given the opportunity of much needed game time.

At the same time as the under 18's played in Narberth the under 16 team played a friendly with the Blues South at CardiffHigh School Old Boys RFC. Again this friendly allowed a number of players to get exposure to this level of rugby and coaches Alex Evans, David Jones and Andrew Millward will have been pleased by the performance of a team that did not include 12 International based players. Captain Mathew Carter's choice to kick to touch rather than take kickable penalties may have resulted in a loss by 10 points to 5 (try for wing Ryan Bayliss) but it certainly gave the players an opportunity to stake a claim for a place in the Reebok Final at Rodney Parade on Sunday 30^th April. The team plays its last Reebok Championship game away to the Scarlets on Wednesday 12^th before the coaching team has the difficult task of selecting the 22 man squad for the Final.

The under 20 team are still waiting to see who will be their opponents in a Final that will be played at Stradey Park on Saturday 29^th April.