VALLEY COUGARS 24

ALL GOLDS CLS 20

The All Golds CLS side took the league leaders agonisingly close in a tremendous game at Treharris RFC.

It is never easy venturing into the backyard of teams like the Cougars and the All Golds performed magnificently though they just came up short.

They held the lead four times during the match but just couldn’t put their opponents away despite the Cougars playing most of the second half with 12 men and half of it with 11.

It was a tremendous effort from the Welsh side who twice denied the All Golds at the death when Kieran Webb was tackled into touch and their scrambling defence ensured the All Golds could not take advantage of a dropped ball in the last few desperate minutes.

Fielding the same pack for the third game in a row, the All Golds took the game to their opponents and won a repeat set thanks to a neat kick forcing a goalline dropout. The result was a well-taken try by Sam Hodge goaled by Archie Gibbs and the perfect start to a tough fixture.

However, the Cougars were not down for long and Ben Jones set up Jack Watkins to score in the corner. Mike Hurley added the extras to level the score.

The All Golds edged ahead again, Harry Kidd going over and Gibbs adding the two points but once more the lead lasted barely five minutes as the visitors made an error from kick-off.

Ethan Coombes capitalised with a try, Hurley making it 12-12, which is how it remained at the interval.

There was an explosive start to the second period as an incident in the tackle led to a brief flare-up and the referee deemed the Cougars responsible, sending one off and sinbinning another. Paris Thomas also saw yellow for his part in the disturbance.

The All Golds soon made the most of their man advantage as Jack Uren slipped through the first line of defence and had the pace to outrun the chasers to score a brilliant try, Gibbs again adding the goal.

The Cougars dug deep and levelled matters for a third time, Watkins scoring near the corner for the second time and once more Hurley was on target with the kick to level the scores at 18-18.

After Dieter Thomas had pushed a drop goal attempt wide, a the Cougars were down to 11 men second yellow card for the Cougars followed and Gibbs edged the All Golds ahead with the resulting penalty with ten minutes to go.

However, they couldn’t hang on and despite being two men down, the Cougars scored Liam Watton touching down under sticks after good work from Jones. Hurley’s goal put the home side ahead for the first time in the match with eight minutes left.

The All Golds went for the win but the Cougars kept their line intact and escaped with a valuable victory in their quest for a third straight Grand Final appearance.

The All Golds return home next week to face second-placed London Chargers knowing that they are capable of upsetting the top teams in the Conference League South.