THE West Wales the Raiders welcomed Swansea University to Stebonheath for a friendly match on a blustery Sunday (Mar 5) afternoon.
The game began with Swansea University gaining a lot of possession of the ball. It took The Raiders a while to get a foothold on the game. When The Raiders finally had their first full set it finished with hooker Dafydd Phillips going over with a short dive from a play. Aaron Lewis added the conversion. Swansea put in a lot of effort to keep The Raiders quiet but the tries started coming as substitute hooker and one of seven debutants Keiran Hooper scored his first points for the club
Man of the Match Ellis Simon powered over from short to score his first try for the club having played for the Under 17’s. Daf Daniel added the conversions and made it 18-0 .
The final ten minutes of the half saw another Raiders debutant Shaun Tennant going over out wide. Aaron Lewis added the two points. With only a few minutes remaining of the half The Raiders who were defending their line well got a turnover and got the ball all the way down the field to finish with debutant hooker Keiran Hooper going over for his second. At half time the score was West Wales Raiders 30 – Swansea University 0.
The second half began with Swansea University putting a lot of effort in the first quarter with two completed sets. The only thing that kept them from scoring was the home sides defence. The Raiders had to defend time after time but finally saw some ball and made their way up the pitch with more powerful plays.
The Raiders were rewarded with Daf Phillips scoring again. Minutes later debutant and one of six under 17s players Ieuan Smith scored his first points for the Raiders going over from a kick to the corner. The next ten minutes saw The Raiders go over for four more tries from centre Andrew Rees-Spowart, Jordan Ball Carl Leyshon and Aaron Lewis.
Swansea University eventually got a well deserved try as second row Seb Engel went over. Swansea’s captain Sam Baker added the two points. In the last stages of the game Raiders captain Nathan Beck finished the game with a try. The final score was West Wales Raiders 66 – Swansea University 6
Speaking after the game Raider’s Owner Andrew Thorne said:
It’s great to see both clubs coming together and see how the partnership is working and I was pleased to see that Swansea came down to play and show how much they are improving as a squad. Regardless of the scoreline it was great to see both clubs applying their trade. The conditions were terrible and tested both squads but it was still an entertaining game.
I’m looking forward to this season as we have some cracking games lined up and I’m sure we will see a few of the Swansea Uni lads run out in Raiders colours this season.
Photos: Byron Williams – Photo Sports Wales
