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Fighting Irish 40 Demons 31
Fighting Irish and Demons serve up another thriller
Another see-saw battle between two of the Welsh Conference’s Rugby League Heavyweights ended with a late victory for the Fighting Irish for the second time this season.

Just as in the earlier encounter at Taffs Well which ended 27-28 to Aberavon, it was Cardiff who opened the scoring when Gareth Jones broke a tackle and scored out on the right. But The Fighting Irish struck back on ten minutes when they broke down the right and Gary Vaughan scored in the corner.

The Demons manufactured an excellent opportunistic try when Sion Williams intercepted on the half way line and got a pass out to Gareth Jones who went thirty metres to score. Jones then added a drop goal to make it 4-11 and on twenty four minutes the Demons went further in front when Lewis Francis battled through from ten yards out.

At 17-4 Aberavon discipline was flagging, but an act of gamesmanship from Richard Lewis in effecting a quick start after a penalty allowed the Irish to find their way back into the game, setting up a Neil Davies try under the posts on thirty four minutes. The Demons added a Jones penalty but the Irish drew to within five just before the break when a good interchange of passes allowed David Hawkins to go in.

Hawkins however, missed the chance to contest the opening ten minutes of the second half when he was sin binned for
 

dissent. Surprisingly, his absence allowed the Fighting Irish to play more freely and by the time he returned his team-mates had taken a 24-19 lead with tries from Richard Lewis and Liam Gadd. But the Demons regained the lead on 58 minutes when Lewis Francis burst through for his second try.

Aberavon replied through a short range David Hawkins effort, but then saw Cardiff take the lead again when Wayne Williams found open space and offloaded to Lee Mullane for a fine try. Leading 31-28 the Demons must have thought their run of bad luck against the Irish, who also defeated them in last season’s playoffs was coming to an end.

However it was the home team who took control of the final ten minutes, scoring first through Richard Lewis’s grounding of a tricky grubber kick and then Gary Vaughan’s try in the corner. Once again, the Fighting Irish had turned round a half time deficit to extend their winning run over the Demons, but both teams played their part in a memorable encounter. Aberavon keep the pressure on Bridgend at the top of the table, while Cardiff remain in fifth.

Demons’ coach Wayne Williams commented "We played well today and ran the Fighting Irish very close. We need to build up momentum for the plate playoffs; today’s performance is a good platform for next week’s home game against Newport and the rest of the season."

Article by Simon Davies
 26 Jun 2004

 



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