FORGESIDE under 9s travelled to Machen on Sunday and were unlucky not to come away with a win. Captain for the day Harrison Reed had a solid game in defence putting in several good tackles. He also off loaded well in attack. Ieuan Rowlands had an excellent game in both defence and attack as he scored a hat trick of tries to earn himself the player of the match award. Following a long spell out through injury, Kian Edwards also had an excellent game as he tackled well and ran hard and also scored a good try to earn himself the most improved player award. Riley Coslett carried well and also had what could have been the winning try disallowed for a double movement as he attempted to ground the ball over the line. Ed Winterfeld tackled well and also scored a good try. Callum Kenvin put in some good tackles as did Arron Turner who also had a couple of good runs. Kai Teale also made a few good breaks and Dione Kenvin, Will Marshall and Demi Jenkins supported well. The black and ambers were unlucky not to record a win, however it was not for the lack of effort put in by all the team. Final score Machen five tries, Forgeside five tries.

Forgeside under 8s came away with a well deserved victory meanwhile.

The game started at a fast pace with Machen scoring two unanswered tries before Forgeside had got up to the speed of the game. Forgeside tagging was soon putting pressure on the Machen team though, which forced multiple turnovers and allowed the Forgeside offloading and running game to shine. It was particularly pleasing to see the improvement in the defensive side of the game with all players contributing and in particular Cian Pearce who made an impressive 27 tags.

With the defence playing so well this was allowing Forgeside more time with ball and excellent support play, running and offloading by Alfie McCann, Erin Higgins, Evyn Harper, Lacey Probert, Logan Harris Redman, Rory Jenkins and Bailey McCloy allowed tries to be scored through Manon Higgins, Cian Pearce and an impressive eight tries through Evan Weeks.

To summarise this was a good advert for mini rugby with lots of effort and good play from both sides. Final score Machen six tries, Forgeside 12 tries. Next week both sides travel up the Heads of the Valley road to take on Rhymney.