Following call offs by St Joseph’s 2nds and Old Illtydians 2nds respectively Whitchurch entertained Cowbridge 2nds in a friendly at Whitchurch Hospital playing fields.
In wet and breezy conditions both sides began this encounter in a positive fashion spinning the ball wide at every opportunity.
Following several raids into Cowbridge territory Whitchurch began to mount some considerable pressure through forward surges led by captain Steve Bale, 2nd row Jamie Bancroft and number 8 Ben Sperandeo.
However a spilled pass enabled Cowbridge to launch a counter attack with the final pass putting the Cowbridge scrum half clear and he raced to the left hand corner only to be denied by a superb try saving tackle by full back Gareth Davies.
This seemed to shock Whitchurch into action following a slight lull and the forwards edged Whitchurch into the Cowbridge 22. Swift passing from the half backs saw centre Marc Lloyd race over unopposed to open the scoring.
Whitchurch confidence grew from this score and after more concerted forward pressure the tries flowed first from Jamie Bancroft and immediately following the restart from winger James Powell and hooker Stephen Hembury crashing through several tackles to score.
Full back Davies unfortunately left his kicking boots at home and the score remained at 20 nil.
The rains came and limited both sides from the free flowing rugby of the first half and inevitably mistakes crept in but the game was expertly handled by referee Simon Rees.
Whitchurch still the stronger of the two sides began a tight phase and edged towards the Cowbridge line through drives from both second rows with the support of No8 Sperandeo. A final surge saw flanker Richard Ford tough down and the extras were added by outside half Dan Hobbs.
The game came to a close following an unstoppable run from No8 Sperandeo again resulting in him beating 5 tacklers to score under the posts. Cowbridge to the credit fought gamely to the end and the final score of 34 – 0 did not do them justice.
The Whitchurch players and officials would like to offer their condolences to the family of former player and club stalwart Tony Rowley who sadly passed away on 17/10/2011. Our thoughts are with them.​