Weekend round up
The Illts finally got back to winning ways last Saturday with an excellent victory over local rivals St Peters, who came into the match in second place in the league. The Illts were helped by the return of tighthead Josh Harris to steady the set piece and with a more familiar looking backline available, were able to address some of the issues they have been having behind the scrum in recent weeks.
Centre Neil Dallimore rolled back the years with a blockbusting performance in the centre, his huge bust creating the position that enabled Scott Britton to put second row Andrew Maunder over for an easy score with a cracking offload. Hard carrying from the Illts pack and Dallimore again created the position for the second score, full back Mike Hurley forcing his way over from close range, Cochlin concerting to make the lead 12-0. St Peters came back strongly aided by some loose Illtydian kicking, and despite some outstanding defence the visitors were eventually rewarded with a try – 12-5 at half time.
A Cochlin penalty extended the advantage, before a soft try from a well worked lineout move saw St Peters narrow the gap to 15-12. The Illts were not to be denied though, with the visiting defence concentrating on Dallimore fellow centre Matt Banner picked a lovely line to cross and extend the lead to 20-12. In keeping with the season the Illts couldn’t close out comfortably, a silly penalty given away enabling St Peters to close within a score at 20-15. With St Peters pressing, substitute Charles Johnson produced a key turnover in the shadow of his own posts to get the Illts out of trouble. Some outstanding work from the pack saw them close out a deserved victory.
Strong performances all round, but centre Neil Dallimore and flanker Scott Britton in particular were outstanding. The challenge now is to maintain the level of performance and keep the same team on the park!
This week the first team travel to Llantrisant who took over in second place from St Peters following a good win at Barry last week. We look forward to seeing former coach Mike Jones who now coaches Llantrisant
On Sunday, the U-16s entertain North Bristol at Moorland Park, ko 11am. The minis travel to play Pontyclun. Come on the Illts
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