This week Cwmtillery traveled to New Tredegar for they first round Cyrus Davies Cup encounter and were fortunate to come away with a hard fought 13 - 11 win to put them through to the next round.
For the first 20min the home side dominated the proceedings and opened the scoring after only 5 min with an unconverted try in the corner, the result of missed first time tackles, and then went further ahead by an easy penalty, deep in the visitors half. (8-0) With the experienced Tredegar pack holding the upper hand at all the set pieces, Cwmtillery were forced to make early changes to bolster their scrum and they first points came from a well taken penalty from fullback Mark Williams.
Cwmtillery raised they game one level as they started to settle down and acting Captain and scrumhalf Mark Staley broke from the base of a 25m scrum and sold a dummy to catch the flat back line defence off guard and stroll over under the posts uncontested, Williams converted to take the visitors in at half time with a 8-10 lead.
After the break, Williams again slotted over his 3rd kick only for Tredegar to reply with a penalty of they own (11-13) to set up a tense final 20 min. To they credit, the Cwmtillery team battle to the end to defend they slim lead, typified by an outstanding display of striking by debutant hooker, Lewis Elliot in only his first season of senior rugby. Lewis took several strikes against the head, his last being the most crucial when a confident Tredegar pack nominated for a scrum 5m instead of going for the points, only for Lewis to steal the ball and Cwmtillery to clear they lines.
With the pack tiring, Cwmtillery made some changes bringing on young blood in the form of Juliano Pinochi and Mike Greaves for they first starts of the season and held out for a gutsy 11-13 win.
Next week, Cwmtillery have a tough draw in the first round of the Worthington (WDRU) cup, with a home tie against fellow Gwent District side Abertsswg.