Cwm Draig opened their 2017 Welsh Junior League account with a victory against Newport at the Sobell Leisure Centre. It was the first match that the Junior Squad played since October last year. Our last match against Newport was an away Juniors' Bristol & West Water Polo League match in May last year, which resulted in both teams sharing the spoils with a 12-12 draw. The previous visit from Newport's Junior Squad to the Sobell Sports Centre was just under a year ago, when Cwm Draig triumphed 15-10. On the basis of our most recent encounters against the Newport's Junior Squad, it was anticipated to be a closely-fought game with no shortage of drama.
First Quarter
Newport began the match strongly and looked to exploit Cwm Draig and their lethargic start. In the opening three minutes of this match, Newport put immediate pressure on our team, putting us on the back-foot. As a result, we conceded a penalty and Newport had an early chance to take the lead. The penalty was missed by C.Tod, however the away team kept persisting and eventually scored the game's first goal. In that period of time, we failed to register a single shot on goal. We eventually responded through an equalizer, scored by Steffan Geary. That seemed to spark us into life as we started to attack with aplomb, consequently bagging another three goals courtesy of Steffan Geary, Lewis Gilmour and James Mayne. After a poor start, Cwm Draig finished the first quarter strongly, leading 4-1.
Second Quarter
Like in the first quarter, Newport were out of the blocks quickly and scored to close the gap to two goals. A significant proportion of this quarter was like a cat-and-mouse chase - we scored with an extra player advantage, scored by James Mayne. This was followed by Newport pegging us back with a goal, however, we restored our three-goal cushion with a penalty scored by Faye Warren. With less than a minute before half-time, Newport took advantage of our complacency and scored a one-minute double salvo to finish the quarter strongly and reducing the deficit to a single goal. Cwm Draig had three opportunities to score with the extra player advantage in the first half of this period - only managing to convert one. With the match finely poised at the end of the second quarter, the question was raised whether the Dragons will be made to rue these missed opportunities. The score at half-time was 6-5 to Cwm Draig.
Third Quarter
After a tense start to the second half of the match, the Dragons extended their lead thanks to Steffan Geary's third goal of the match. However, Newport hit back straight away to bring the score back to a one-goal gap. Cwm Draig reacted with a burst of impetus and scored a quick-fire two goals through strikes from Alun Chesworth-Rickards and Steffan Geary. In the remaining three and half minutes of the quarter, Cwm Draig were punished for missing opportunities to score from two Extra Player Advantages as Newport grabbed another two goals to end the third quarter narrowly behind the Dragons, setting up an intense finale. Cwm Draig lead 9-8.
Fourth Quarter
The fourth quarter was finely poised - and twenty seconds in, there was pandemonium as Newport thought they had leveled the match via a goal from a free throw. However, the goal was disallowed due to the shot being inside five meters - a big let off for the Dragons. Cwm Draig showed some potency, it eventually paid off as James Mayne and Steffan Geary scored once again to give the Dragons some breathing space. However, Newport were not willing to capitulate and responded by scoring two goals of their own, bringing the score to 11-10. Both teams showed urgency and high tempo as they looked for the next goal which could have proved to be integral in terms of the complexion of the match. With just over a minute remaining, Steffan Geary scored his sixth goal of the match, quickly followed by his seventh goal - a composed long-distanced lob to put the result beyond doubt. With thirty seconds to go, another two goals was scored, one apiece. Faye Warren scored our fourteenth and final goal of the match.
Match summary
First match of the campaign, first win - we can not ask for much more. In regards to the actual performance, some aspects were good - the attitude the team displayed in response to Newport scoring, we looked to hit back with urgency, impetus and perseverance. Despite a few sloppy starts, we eventually steadied ourselves, started playing with more fluidity and nullified Newport's attacking threat whilst defending, with good interceptions and decent goalkeeping. It was not perfect, several opportunities to make the match more comfortable for ourselves by converting from the extra player advantages were not dispatched properly. Overall, decent result - Cwm Draig 14-11 Newport.
Team: Meg Jones (1/GK), Lewis Gilmour (2), Jacob Edwards (3), Morgan Griffiths (4), Erin Jones (5), KJ Williams (6), Alun Chesworth-Rickards (7), Drew Taylor (8), Steffan Geary (9/C), Faye Warren (10), Jo-Jo Chesworth-Rickards (11), James Mayne (12), George Jones (13/GK)
Goal scorers: Lewis Gilmour (1), Alun Chesworth-Rickards (1), Steffan Geary (7), Faye Warren (2), James Mayne (3)
Major foul receivers: Lewis Gilmour (1), Alun Chesworth-Rickards (3), Steffan Geary (1), Jo-Jo Chesworth-Rickards (1)
