Fixture

The Stars traveled to the City Centre to play their first pre season friendly against Fairwater. Unfortunately it was not your typical August summer day; it was more like November with squally winds and heavy rain showers. Fairwater play in division 3A East Central which is the equivalent to the league the Stars currently play in. The stars were therefore expecting a stern test.

The weather did effect the game together with Fairwater electing for passive scrums from the off due to a shortage of front row players. The game was very scrappy and there was a definite edge to it and certainly not a friendly affair.

As you would expect at this time of the year both sides made a number of handling errors. It was a very even contest but overall Stars just edged it even though they just lost. With the tries from Fairwater coming from Stars mistakes.

There were a number of positives and a number of players put in strong performances: Tom Hamer had a very solid game in the front row and worked hard in the loose, Brad Jones made a number of big carries in his new position at number 8, Tom Haddock had a very impressive debut for the Stars at centre, Karl Fallon made a number of strong runs when he came on and Gavin Bassett when he came on showed that he has not lost none of his enthusiasm in the 2 seasons he had been out of the game.

With a number of players returning from holidays next week things look positive but there are a few things that need to be sorted out in training before the first league game at home against New Tredegar on 3 September. This game however certainly dusted off the cobwebs ready for the start of the season.

Stars together stronger