On a day perfect for rugby, the Cardiff and District U14's swept away their neighbors from Gwent with a feast of running rugby.
C&V started strongly, applying early pressure to the Gwent line, with telling runs from forwards Reuben Tucker and Elliot Chilcot. Early on, though, the Gwent defense held firm, and the match was scoreless for the first ten minutes.
The pressure from C&V was bound to tell, and after some good, quick rucking work, space was created outside the Gwent backline for speedster David Davies to outstrip the opposition and score the first of his four tries.
Gwent made little impact, and with so much defending to do, tired quickly, and C&V capitalised with some quick breaks through the center from Cieran Driscoll and Josh Hurley, with outside-half Rhys Evans orchestrating things well.
The C&V pack gave a solid platform for the backs, with all eight making an effort to secure and steal ball, offering scrum-half Rob Ryan an armchair ride.
C&V opened up the Gwent defense at will, and allowed Davies the space to get his four tries, but he did have work to do for each one, and his finishing must be credited.
What little ball Gwent managed to secure was met with ferocious defense from Cardiff and Vale, with telling work from back-row men Ieuan Matthews and Luke O'Brien turning the visitors over regularly.
Some late surges from replacement No. 8 Liam Union led to a final try for the forwards, and bar some last-gasp defense, and un-forced errors, The C&V U14's could have stretched their winning margin.
Man of the Match must go to Davies for his four tries, but the hard work carried out by all inside him cannot be underestimated, Reuben Tucker often at the fore of any attacking moves, bullocking his way through would-be Gwent tacklers.
A confidence boosting win for Cardiff and Vale U14's means we can look forward to the New Year with great expectations.
Final Score: Cardiff & Vale U14 32 - Gwent U14 0
DISTRICT UNDER 13's Heart of Wales 5 - 10 Rhondda
In a bruising encounter Rhondda came out deserving winners despite poor visibility and determined opposition in what were very difficult conditions on an extremely foggy night...
The first half was a torrid affair between two strong sets of forwards that were determined to keep possession. It took a blind side move by Rhondda to create a breakthrough, with wing Dale Hughes (Pontypridd RFC) taking the ball up to within 5 metres, quick recycling by scrum-half Sam Jones (Ystrad Rhondda) saw the ball in the hands of Rhondda fly-half Bobi Sheppard (Ystrad Rhondda) who dived over to give first blood for Rhondda and a half time lead of 5-0. Prominent for Rhondda in the first half were Bobi Sheppard, Dewi Walding (Treorchy RFC), Jack Faulkes (Porth Harlequins), Bradley Watkins (Ystrad Rhondda) and Callum 'Bones' Phillips (Treorchy RFC).
The second half kicked off with several Rhondda players coming on to make their debuts and the coaches moving other players around, so it was a very experimental side that took to the field for Rhondda. Yet the second half was even more bruising with neither side willing to give up an inch. Again it took creative play to break the deadlock; following some hard work by the forwards and slick passing by the backs, Dale Hughes again broke through the first line of defence to race 30 yards before feeding debutant wing Liam Ring (Gilfach Goch) who showed fantastic pace to outstrip the remaining defenders and score a deserving debut try.
The score upped the pace of the match as HoW threw everything into attack and their resilience paid off with a deserving try through the forwards. But despite their best efforts HoW failed to capitalise any further and the final whistle blew to give Rhondda a deserving 10-5 win. Prominent for Rhondda in the second half were Luke Rees (Treorchy RFC), Dale Hughes, Liam Ring, Alex 'Juice' Jones (Gilfach Goch) and captain James 'Hog' Parry (Treorchy RFC).
It was obvious to all the spectators that the Heart of Wales have come on leaps and bounds since last season and on another day could have won the match. Determined play by the HoW forwards in particular made this a very tough encounter for Rhondda who took the opportunity to blood several new players. On a clearer night in better conditions this would have been a very open match, but conditions dictated tight play and both sides showed fantastic skill to make it the exciting encounter that it was.
TRY scorers for Rhondda were Bobi Sheppard and Liam Ring.