The Illts made it 4 wins on the bounce (and 19 points from a possible 20) with a hard fought and frequently bad tempered match away at Clwb Rygbi, with a late try sealing a bonus point win. Most pleasing of all is the strength of the squad, with Adam Taylor, Ryan Griffiths, Carl Fish, Lewis Wilkie, Chris Ericson, Scott Gregory, Dan Savager and Arthur Mills all unavailable, showing the vastly increased depth the squad has this year.
The game kicked off 10 minutes late due to the referee being stuck in traffic, with the conditions perfect for running rugby. The game was only 2 minutes old when the Clwb left wing was sent off for a tip ruck clearance which resulted in an Illtydian player being driven onto his head/neck. This and the inevitable flare up that followed seemed to set the tone for a niggly, bad tempered game which was a shame as both teams played some cracking rugby in patches when both sets of players concentrated on this.
Clwb were first into their stride, a misalignment in the Illts rejigged midfield allowing the Clwb centre to make a big bust, but the home side couldn’t capitalise. The Illts settled into their work, with some powerful carrying from the pack, with Josh Porter and Shane Young particularly prominent, causing problems for Clwb. It was the vistors turn to be wasteful of chances now, a blistering Ryan Healy break into the Clwb 22 had seen the Illts only 5 metres from the Clwb line, but a knock on at the base of a ruck killed off the attack. The Illts blew another chance when a James Harris break from a quick penalty again took the Illts up to the club line, but some poor passing and good scramble defence saw the Illts again fail to capitalise on the opportunity.
It was Clwb who first, some poor defence at the back of the lineout allowed the Clwb scrum half to break through and he found the flanker in support who carried the attack up to the Illts line. When the ball was recycled quickly, good hands allowed the Clwb winger to score a fine try. The conversion missed, 5-0 Clwb.
The home team were on the wrong end of the refs decisions at this stage, and after a couple of “debates” with the ref, he lost patience and sin binned the Clwb hooker. Soon after the Sean Cochlin kicked a penalty to reduce the deficit after Clwb were offside in midfield, 3-5.
The Illts pack was gaining the upper hand, and when they were awarded a second penalty this time the ball was kicked to the corner, and from the resultant lineout drive, flanker Stuart Wilby peeled away onto the blindside to crash over for an unconverted try. There were no further scores in the half and the Illts led by 3 at the break, 5-8.
The game was effectively won by the Illts with 2 sparkling tries in the first 15 minutes of the second half. After a turnover near their own 22, a Josh Porter carry sucked in 3 defenders and when the ball was moved wide full back Josh Williams, who had an outstanding game, broke the line and timed his pass to perfection to release left wing Ryan Healy who raced home from 30 metres out. The conversion by Cochlin made the score 5-15. Just 5 minutes later, another attack from deep saw an offload by centre Joe O’Sullivan release Williams again, and another perfectly timed pass released right wing Benon Kizza for a great try, again converted, 5-22.
The home side kept going and were now upping the tempo being 3 scores behind, with penalties being tapped quickly and the ball being moved wide to stretch the Illts defence at every opportunity. The Illts were then reduced to 14 themselves, after centre Lewis Andrews was yellow carded after retaliating to a punch from the home no 8 following a tackle. The Clwb winger scored his second try soon after, finding a gap near the ruck to scoot over, with the conversion again missed, 10-22. Things got worse for the Illts with flanker Phil Morse, who had an excellent game up to that point sent off by the referee.
Despite now being down to 13 it was the Illts who finished on top. With a few minutes remaining, the Illts had a very kickable penalty to clinch the win, but they kicked for the corner in search of the bonus point try. It appeared the driving lineout had been pushed onto touch but Darren Fenton cleverly rolled inside to drop over to clinch the bonus point, final score 10-27.
Some excellent performances from the Illts, with the pack increasingly dominant at scrum time as the game wore on , with flankers Morse and Wilby also pinching some key lineouts from the home side. Full back Josh Williams and Ryan Healy both produced excellent attacking performances, and second row Josh Porter carried superbly throughout, and on another day any of the three could have easily been awarded man of the match, but no 8 Shane Young took the award for a tremendous performance, with his ball carrying always putting the Illts on the front foot and some big hits in defence.
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