Fixture

Abercynon RFC put an abrupt end to Mountain Ash’s unbeaten run of seven matches this weekend, claiming a narrow 22-19 victory in front of a huge valleys crowd at Duffryn Pennar Park. 

With the visitors coming in as underdogs to what was billed as the fixture of the season so far, the pressure on the hosts was evident from the start, conceding a total of five penalties throughout the match. It wasn’t until the second half when the Old Firm would start to build some momentum, but that was quickly diminished by some typical Cynon magic. 

It was a tense first half with Abercynon putting plenty of pressure on Mount, resulting in two penalties in quick succession to give us an early 6-0 lead, but further infringements would see both sides end the first half on level terms (9-9). 

Keen to consolidate their position on the top of the league, the Old Firm came out refreshed and scored their first try and conversion within the first ten minutes of the second half to an almighty roar from the home crowd, and open a seven-point gap (16-9). 

With Cynon supporters fearing the worst, any thought of an incoming heavy defeat was quickly abated by a penalty kick from the reliable boot of Dean Gunter to bring us back within touching distance (16-12). 

Mistakes in the Mountain Ash defence and good handling from our back row set it up nicely for winger Alex Hayman to bolt over the line in the 62nd minute and take us in front by one, with Gunter easily converting to extend that to three. (16-19) 

A Mount penalty in the 67th brought them back level, but that was soon cancelled out by another Cynon penalty kick, courtesy of Gunter, which ultimately sealed our biggest victory of the season so far. 

Speaking after the match, our captain Connor Dixon said: “To come through right at the end is just brilliant. We thought we were in trouble when they scored at the start of the second half but luckily, we managed to stay in it. To win a massive local derby against Mount means a lot.” 

The win makes it 2/2 against Mountain Ash this weekend, with our second team claiming a 11-3 victory over their Athletic team at home on Friday evening. 

Elsewhere, our youth team came up short against Abercwmboi, losing 26-12.

(By Gareth Williams)