Division Two West

Seven Sisters 22 Amman United 19

The proverbial “game of two halves” saw Amman throwing away a game they quite possibly should have won.

Despite it being a forward-orientated match, dictated by the very heavy conditions and torrential rain, with handling difficult for both sides, Amman began well.

Some early pick-and-drives from the visitors were rewarded wide out when lock Gavin Elliott took several defenders over with him before touching down.

United tried hard to play their usual fluid running game, a chip-and-chase from Gavin Lewis saw the little wizard taken out late, but wing Johnny Bevan picked up smartly and went in under the posts. Rhys Thomas added the conversion.

The home side hit back with a penalty, and netted a converted try on the half-hour.

Amman still looked the better side, and from the restart, with the Reds camped on the home try-line, good forward pressure pushed Seven’s pack back yards, and the referee finally lost patience and raised his hand for the penalty-try. Thomas converted for a 19-10 half-time lead.

Amman’s old Achilles-Heel re-emerged early in the second half when a frustrating yellow card saw them lose the influential Matthew Wrigley from the pack to the sin bin, and, during his ten-minute absence, United conceded two tries as Sisters surged back into the game.

With their tails up, the home side stood firm and shut out the opposition to hold out for a narrow victory.

In truth, Amman will have been kicking themselves. The visitors were by far the better team in the first half, but proved unable to re-exert their authority after regaining their full compliment on the field.

In deplorable conditions, Karl Worsfold, Rob James, Sean Mangan and Gavin Elliott put in a superb shift for the dominant Amman pack, while scrum half Joel Foster did well behind them.

Amman will be at home against second-in-the-table Maesteg Quins on Saturday followed by a fortnight’s break before returning for the Swalec Plate last-16 tie at home to Abergavenny.