A week later than originally planned thanks to the recent arctic weather, the Ospreys U16s sides battled for regional bragging rights at Ysgol Bae Baglan on Wednesday night, where East took on West
- The opening try of the game from Logan Phillips was the only score for the East side
- Tries from Iestyn Morgan and two interception tries from Trystan Davies secured the West side the victory in a great game of rugby from the Eyasses
With places in the combined squad up for grabs, the U16s had one last chance to impress the coaches in their final game of the season, and what better way to fight for your place than against fellow Ospreys?
The opening stages were dominated by the East side who carried the ball well to take play into the West’s half. Despite a penalty going against the East, the West’s attack was cut short with after a counter ruck from the East’s Kieran Stevens took possession back. Notching up the phases and running the ball deeper into the West’s 22, quick offloads out wide made way for Logan Phillips to score the opening try, that went unconverted.
The East were on top and looking to press deep inside West territory when an offload amongst the East backs was nicely intercepted by Trystan James who ran from just outside his own 22 to race over the line for a try between the posts. Joe Hawkins added the extras to put the West side just ahead at 5-7.
With momentum swinging towards the West side, a break from Hawkins saw the centre blitz his way through defence. The East regrouped and a solid defence from the pack earned them the penalty with Hawkins penalised for holding on.
The West extended their lead shortly before the break, the pack carrying the well and driving their way into the 22. Clinical play created the opportunity for Iestyn Morgan to power his way over the line for his team’s second try of the game, Hawkins slotting the conversion to take them further ahead going in at half time.
Half Time - Ospreys East 5 - 14 Ospreys West
As the second half got underway, the wind began to pick up and proved problematic for the East side who were struggling to make any headway out of their own half, and were forced to defence valiantly.
Keeping play firmly in their opposition’s half, the West kept pushing their way deeper into the East’s, but just like their opposition in the first half, were struggling to turn their dominance into any points on the board.
It wasn’t until the 60th minute that the East finally made their way out of their own half but it was very much a case of deja vu with Trystan James sniffing out another interception to race from inside his own half to score his second try of the game and the West’s third. Hawkins with the conversion extended the West’s lead 5-21 with just under 10 minutes left to play.
Despite being 16 points behind, the East kept on fighting and a brilliant break from Morgan Hibbard from inside his own half proved in vain, a superb turnover from Keiran Lewys allowing the West to clear.
Both sides fought to have the final say of the game, but the West claimed a penalty on the halfway line giving them a kick to touch to clear at the final whistle to take the victory and this season’s regional bragging rights.