It was three from three on a successful night for the Ospreys age-grade teams
Bouncing back from last week’s defeat, Ospreys West U16s deliver an improved performance on home ground to take the win against Scarlets East.
- A double from Muxworthy, as well as tries from Lloyd and Jones secures victory for the young Ospreys.
- The young Ospreys head into their next game, against Dragons Black next week, with added confidence.
As the sun shone over The Gnoll, both teams took to the field, looking to make an impression in these early stages of the season. However, it was the home team who took the honours, proving too strong for the opposition.
It was a bright start for the Ospreys West, applying pressure from kick off and opening the scoring six minutes into the game. George Lloyd made a break from the ruck, and crossed over the tryline for an unconverted score, pushing the Ospreys into an early 5-0 lead.
The young Ospreys dominated play in the early stages of the game. Lineout ball off the top, saw the ball was played out wide and quick hands resulted in an Ospreys penalty under the goal posts. A quick tap by Ospreys scrum half, Brandon Jones, who then offloaded to Oscar Muxworthy, who crashed over the tryline, for the second unconverted try of the evening, taking the score to 10-0.
Scarlets East fought back as they begun to apply pressure to the Ospreys, who were forced to put in a defensive shift. The men in red played the ball wide and went through the phases, but it was Tomos Davies, Scarlets’ inside centre, who found a gap in the Ospreys’ defence, flying over the tryline with a crash ball to put the away side on the scoreboard, converted by Alex Wainwright.
Tom Williams, Scarlets’ Second Row, was given a yellow card for high tackle on Alex Hughes. This foul play enforced a replacement, with Rhys Harris entering the pitch instead of Hughes. Harris went into centre and Iestyn Lewis dropped to full back.
Minutes before the half time whistle, the young Ospreys kicked and chased from the half way line which led to a scrum, Ospreys put in, which resulted in the Scarlets infringing and being penalised under their goal post. Jones, took a quick tap penalty and forced his way over the line, converted by Dan Edwards, taking the Ospreys into a 17-7 lead at half time.
HALF TIME OSPREYS 17 – 7 SCARLETS
The Scarlets attacked as Iestyn Gwilliam broke into the Ospreys’ 22 just minutes into the second half, but was stopped in his tracks by the home side’s defence.
Ospreys’ Number 4, Lloyd, was yellow carded for slowing play down at the ruck and Wainwright kicked deep into touch.
From the resulting lineout, the Scarlets secured possession and their Hooker, Iestyn Bunyan, rounded off a drive to dab down and score, the extras by Wainwright to close the gap, bringing the score to 17-14 to the Ospreys.
The Ospreys then responded, as they won possession from the kick off and moved the ball to the narrowside, giving Muxworthy an easy run-in to take the ball over the tryline in the right corner, for his second try of the evening. Edwards added the extra two points, giving his team a 10 point lead.
From the restart, the away side seemed to up the tempo, which forced the Ospreys to give penalties away and dig deep in defence.
Another yellow card was awarded to Scarlets’ Number 19, Luke Jones, for foul play and so, the young Ospreys utilised the upper hand of an extra man and set up camp in the Scarlets’ 22 in the final minutes.
Through quick hands and good vision, Lewis Walker capitalised the gap in the Scarlets’ line and made a charge for the tryline, but was bundled into touch by the Scarlets’ defence. Iestyn Lewis then continued to make charges through the men in red, but was unsuccessful in scoring.
The Ospreys looked to finish the game off on a high, as they continued to dominate possession and to threaten the Scarlets’ line. However, the Scarlets looked to make one last push by kicking into touch from a penalty. The Ospreys had the final say in the dying seconds, as they stole the ball in the lineout and kicked the ball out into touch, and so they held onto a deserved victory.
FULL TIME OSPREYS 24 – 14 SCARLETS
Elsewhere, the U16s East bounced back from last week’s defeat with a superb 36-17 win over the Dragons Black U16s at the Brewery field last night. A solid first half performance from the squad saw them go in at the break 31-0. Tries from Dylan Samuel, Olly Fish, Luke Smith, Ellis Evans and Iori Commerford-Davies kept the Ospreys comfortably ahead in the opening half, with Rhys Cawley and Ellis Evans adding the extras.
A strong second half from the Dragons saw them make glimpses of a comeback, notching up 17 points on the board, but a try from Kyan Lloyd in the final five minutes sealed the win for the young Ospreys.
The Ospreys U18s also claimed their first win of the season with a 27-31 victory over the Cardiff Blues U18s at the Cardiff Arms Park.
Tries from Tristan James, Rhys Thomas and Logan Phillips put the Ospreys try count at three compared to the Blues four, but 16 points from the boot of Joe Hawkins saw the visitors come out on top and earn the win.