A cold and dry March Sunday morning at Moorland Park greeted the players, coaches, and fans of Old Ilts and St Peters for the Plate quarter final of the Cardiff Rugby Defender Cup.
A high paced start led to probing runs from Jacob alongside line breaks from Tom and Connor. A powerful run from Lloyd led to Morgan scoring from the resulting ruck for the first try of the game. Josh added the conversion to make the score 7-0.
St Peters came back and some excellent tackling was epitomised by a last ditch tap tackle by Josh to deny St Peters a try that kept them at bay. However, the pressure told with some nice passing and running moves for two St Peters tries that were both converted to make it 7-14. Just before h/t Old Ilts kicked to the corner and used the accurate lineout throw of Joe P to Joe W to create a chance a driving maul to good effect that drove 20 metres but it was unfortunately held up over the try line by St Peters. Half-time 7-14.
At the start of the 2nd half resilience was shown by the boys in defence characterised by Jude and Cohen. Sadly, the team were then hit by a number of injuries with more changes than Cardiff City's manager. The 'Swiss Army Knife' players of Cruz, Dom, Evan P and Alfie having played multiple positions this season, ensured that they were able to contribute when called upon. As the game wore on Old Ilts took control of the game at the ruck with Morgan and Connor clearing out and Joe W getting a number of turnovers at the breakdown. The front row union led the way at the scrum and carrying the ball well to get the team over the gainline. Jacob RP, Connor and Lloyd continued to get into the opposition 22 having more hits than Ed Sheeran. As well as this, the continued pressure from the defensive line led by Will and Evan W ensured that Old Ilts got the ball back to enable Ethan to score from 2(0 😁) metres out. Jacob converted to level the game at 14-14.
Old Ilts were now creating all the chances. A wonderful weaving run from Harry Berry was only stopped from being a try by a high tackle by a St Peter's player who was rightly yellow carded. The resulting tap penalty led to a try for Tom in the corner. Ollie ensured that he surveyed all of Moorland Park for a minute before attempting the conversion that sadly fell short. St Peter's launched one final attack and a final defensive stand from Old Ilts ensured that they won19-14 at full-time to book their semi-final place.
A post-match celebration ensued with hot dogs and singing in the changing rooms.
Processing