Fixture

Stars traveled 3 miles  up the Sirhowy valley to play their closest rivals Oakdale. The game was vital for both teams; Oakdale was second in the league and pushing for promotion while the Stars was towards the bottom and needing just one more win to definitely avoid relegation.

The last time the two sides met the game was played in a monsoon which Oakdale won. Today the conditions were perfect for playing rugby. The Stars captain had to make a late withdrawal because of a stomach bug so young Matthew Davies stepped up to captain the side for the first time. The Stars lost the toss and Oakdale decided to play up the slope. The game was mostly played in Oakdales half for the first 20 minutes however it quickly appeared that this was not going to be the Stars day as they were not getting the rub of the green, all the 50:50 decisions seemed to be going against them.

The Stars lost a bit of momentum when prop Richard Jenkins left the field due to a nasty leg injury. The Stars then missed a penalty line kick which ended up with a penalty to Oakdale 5 meters from their line which the full back quickly took and ran 3/4 the length of the pitch before being tackled; from this breakdown Oakdale scored their first try which was unconverted. The Stars continued to take the game to Oakdale but on the half hour mark there was another serious injury to Stars player Sam Creel who needed to be carried off the pitch. It was later diagnosed that Sam had broken his tibia and will be out for the rest of the season but will be ok for the end of season tour to Poland. The club wishes Sam a speedy recovery.

Oakdale scored another unconverted try 5 minutes before half time to lead 10 nil at half time.

In the second half Oakdale appeared to be a different side and played with much more confidence. Oakdales full back Simon Veel was a constant irritant to the Stars, he made a number of line breaks and completed a number of long kicks into the corners which pinned the stars in their 22 meter area. It was obvious that he knew how to use the slopping pitch and used this to Oakdales advantage. Half way through the second half another Stars player Liam Brown had a serious injury and had to be carried off on a stretcher the Stars physio was feeling his age and finding it difficult to keep up with all the injuries.

Oakdale ran in some well worked tries however the Stars never gave up and scored two excellent solo tries. The first by Marc Williams who followed up a Stars kick off ripped the ball from a Oakdale defender, brushed off a couple of tackles and scored under the posts. The second was scored by veteran replacement Rhys Hallett who ran half the length of the pitch to score under the posts after beating a couple of Oakdale defenders with his electric pace. This proved to his doubters that he still hasn't lost it despite putting on a few extra pounds.

To be fair Oakdale were the better side on the day but not by 40 points. The Stars definitely did not get the 50;50 decisions: a deliberate high tackle on winger Jamie Kingston could have resulted in a yellow card, Nathan Hughes on another day may have not been penalized for picking up the ball at a ruck (he made the tackle and a ruck had not been formed so there was no reason why he could not pick the ball up) this decision led to one of Oakdales tries and a deliberate knock on by an Oakdale player in the Stars 22 meter area should have resulted in a penalty to the Stars and not a scrum again this led to another Oakdale try. That said we respect the referees decision who had to make split second decisions without the aid of linesmen and video cameras.

To conclude all the Stars players put everything they had into their game and their effort cannot be faulted. Matthew Davies led the team very well in his first game as captain. Full back Kieran Woods was awesome in defense and made a number of try saving tackles however Marc Williams was outstanding throughout the 80 minutes his energy and commitment galvanized the team and he was always in the thick of the action. Marc was awarded man of the match.

The Stars next game is home against the current league leaders Caldicot.

Stars together stronger