Old Illts ensured they finished 2015 on top of the league with a bonus point victory over Cardiff rivals Fairwater. In truth the performance was far from perfect, with the visitors opting for passive scrums from that start the game was a very disjointed affair. Fairwater played with plenty of spirit, despite playing for around 50 minutes with 14 men after an injury to their srum half and finishing the game with 13 after the 7 had thrown a needless punch late on. They also had a player of class at outside half, who scored all of their 14 points with 2 tries which he converted.
His first was a beauty and gave the visitors the lead after an early Sean Cochlin penalty, chipping over the defence then kicking through to score. The Illts regained the lead after a powerful forward drive had been stopped just short, Wheeler dived over from the ruck. Wheeler scored a second to give the Illts some breathing space before half time, Cochlin again kicked and the Illts led 17-7 t the break.
The Illts were straight on the attack after half time, Wheeler brilliantly catching a kick off and then moments later charging down a kick which fell nicely for Gavin Knapp to score. Fairwater scored again from a 5 metre scrum before sustained pressure saw a clever pass from Lewis Andrews release Tom Silva to score and seal the bonus point. The final try was set up by a great dummy from replacement James Harris who released Campbell Macmillan, who was tackled well by the visiting winger but released the pass to another replacement Dan Savager to score.Cochlin converted to finish with 13 points.
Plenty to work on but 46 points from the first 11 games and a place in the last 32 of the cup is a great start. Come on the Illts!
Processing