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Rhymney 12 Llanhilleth 17

​Rhymney battered away for five minutes deep into injury time at a muddy, murky Park and though subs Callum Ryan and returnee Michael Green were both just short, they couldn't break down desperate and determined Llan defence: so the visitors gained a double and the Brewers just a losing bonus point. In the end these were two closely matched sides, though during an 80-odd minutes when every sort of weather except hail was experienced, each outfit had periods of ascendancy and looked likely to prevail. Rhymney lacked absolutely nothing in spirit and effort but an extra edge of accuracy, calm and tactical nous would have carried them home. Early errors led to the position from which Llan gained an early try from pack pressure, but once Rhymney won ball they always looked capable of posing problems. Sam Williams and his pack hit back, and Liam Davies put centre Dan O'Brien over on a lovely angle but could not convert. Then wing Kyron Moss aagin demonstrated his noted finishing skills to get over at the flag and Davies converted beautifully across the wind for 12-5. For some time the Brewers had the uper hand at the scrums and gave scrum half Alex Thomas some time, and with flanker Callum Merrick lively at lineout and loose and partner Keaton Pardoe belying his size with energy and bravery, another score might have seemed enough as half time arrived. However, loss of concentration from a midfield scrum led to a penalty and Llan's pack built pressure. Solid defence almost briught the choke tackle but play went on and the visitors won the ball and skipped over for a levelling converted try. It was that precision again, tricky in the conditions, which failed as Rhymney missed touch and Llan ran it back. They set up a winning ruck and despite centre Scott Davidson's brave hit, just managed to ship it on for a good corner score.  At 17-12 it was all to play for, and in a welter of mud, sun, scuffles, tellings off and noisy support for both sides, played for it was. Three times, though, the Brewers kicked ball away in the Llan 22. Veteran ref Mike Cox didn't please either side too much with some of his decisions, but did at least keep all 30-odd players on the field when others may not have. He also presided over lengthy injury time, partly because a rousing Rhymney finale saw the pack carry again and again through umpteen phases: they did everything but score - but they didn't. No-one could have complained if they had, but ultimately a losing bonus point was the size of it. Aberbargoed down there is the next derby date in the division, next Saturday 13th January.