Our Senior Mens completed half of their Welsh Senior League campaign back in January at Wales National Pool Swansea, where they suffered a defeat to Welsh Wanderers before beating Newport. The second part of the competition was at the International Sport Village in Newport, where we faced Swansea and Carmarthen. The team approached the two matches with positiveness, believing that two wins were very doable.
Swansea were our first opponents. From the start, we adopted a high-pressing game, which caused Swansea to make errors and allowed us to counter-attack quickly. Swansea struggled to cope with our tireless work-rate to snuff out danger with the tight centre-forward marking, maintaining high pressure and closing down throughout the match as well as the constant interceptions all over the field. With the opposition constantly under the cosh by our high-pressure marking, we were able to continuously dispossess them and then attack rapidly with impeus and aplomb. Our movement going forward was lively, as we looked to expose the spaces left, right and center. The only part of our game which let us down was our man-up situations. We failed to convert from several opportunities with the extra player advantage, as we had a low conversion rate. In this match, it was not so critical, but in future matches it is likely that the man-up can play a significant role on what way the pendulum swings in terms of results. Overall, we attacked with potency, we were defensively sound and the high-pressing strategy was well-executed as we went on to comprehensively beat Swansea 18-8.
Carmarthen were up next. The squad had prepared for a much closer-fought match as there were several familiar in the Carmarthen squad who had played for Cwm Draig, therefore our players understood the kind of battle they were in prior to kick-off. Because of the success in the previous match, we once again were instructed to press high on the opposition players. The Dragons worked tirelessly all throughout the match, putting in desire and drive into play. Our squad were showing the same energy, pace and movement as against Swansea. Defensively, we found it harder to contain Carmarthen's attack than Swansea, as they also put on a good offensive display. It was a cat-and-mouse chase of a match up until the finale, enthralling stuff for the neutrals. The Dragons edged Carmarthen and were looking to kill it off with a narrow lead. However, complacency played a role in a sudden late Carmarthen surge to make the scoreline 13-13 in the final minute of the game. Carmarthen fought hard, but Cwm Draig fought harder as a quickfire double-goal salvo snatched a precious win for the Dragons. We won 15-13 - absolute thriller.
The Welsh Senior League final standings reveal Welsh Wanderers top, followed by Cwm Draig finishing a respectable second place. Newport, Swansea and Carmarthen then finished in third, fourth and fifth respectively. It's a decent position for this senior team, who are continuing to make progress, one stepping stone after another. Our debut seasion in the Welsh Senior League has been a positive chapter for the club. We can now look forward to the BWWPL and try to maintain the momentum, starting by bringing a good performance out against Harlequins and hopefully a positive result. COME ON YOU DRAGONS!