Aber Valley Wolves Wheelchair   22        Swinton Lions Development Wheelchair   14

Alan Dixon at Caerphilly Leisure Centre

Swinton Lions Wheelchair team played their first ever games in Wales by playing a double header against the Aber Valley Wolves. First up for the Lions was the development team.

The Lions went on the attack from the start when Noah Cronshaw recovered the kick off. Duncan Clarke and Donna Robinson took the ball up with Noah Cronshaw being tackled short of the line. The ball was move across to Cat Cronshaw who was tackled short of the line before Duncan Clarke put in a kick on the last. The Wolves knocked on near their own line. Duncan Clarke and Noah Cronshaw both went close to scoring before Noah put a kick into the in-goal which was too long. The Wolves were soon on the attack with runs from S. Briley, Cerys Stonehouse and Thomas James. S. Briley put in a kick which forced the Lions to concede a drop out. S. Briley recovered the kick and launched their next attack. The ball was taken up by Thomas James before passing the ball to Marc Anderson. The ball was moved back to Thomas James whose pass out wide went into touch. The Lions quickly moved the ball downfield with Robin Cronshaw being tackled short of the line. From the turnover, the Wolves launched their next attack. Thomas James kicked the ball over the top of the Lions defence. S. Briley chased and collected the ball but a good tackle by Robin Cronshaw prevented him from scoring. The ball was quickly moved across the field to Cerys Stonehouse who moved it onto Lloyd Stonehouse. He passed it onto Thomas James, but he could not keep hold of the ball. The Lions went back on the attack. Duncan Clarke’s kick on the last bounced away from a chasing Noah Cronshaw and into touch. The Lions recovered the ball from a Wolves knock on. Noah Cronshaw went close before the ball was moved across to Robin Cronshaw who lost control of the ball. The Wolves recovered the ball. Thomas James put in a kick over the top of the Lions defence for Lloyd Stonehouse to chase. He collected the ball to score. The try was disallowed for a knock on. The Lions then knocked on which allowed Aber Valley to go back on the attack with Thomas James. The ball was moved across to Lloyd Stonehouse but his pass to Cerys Stonehouse could not be taken.

A Lions knock on gave the ball back to Aber Valley. Thomas James took the ball up to the Lions defence before passing it to Lloyd Stonehouse who weaved his way through the Lions defence to score. Thomas James missed the conversion. Ian Cronshaw recovered the ball from the restart. Duncan Clarke went on the attack before passing the ball to Ben Molnar who was tackled close to the line. Duncan Clarke’s kick was too long and went dead in goal. History was made in the 22nd minute when all four members of the Cronshaw family made onto the pitch at the same time. Robin came off the subs bench to join his father Ian, mother Cat and brother Noah. Aber Valley went back on the attack with a Thomas James kick over the top. Lloyd Stonehouse gave chase but was unable to get to the ball before it went dead. Thomas James kicked over the top on the Wolves next possession. This time Lloyd Stonehouse recovered the ball. He passed the ball back to Thomas James whose kick went into touch. Runs by Ian Cronshaw, Cat Cronshaw and Robin Cronshaw sent the Lions back on the attack. Duncan Clarke’s kick was recovered by the Wolves who then launched an attack of their own. Lloyd Stonehouse then cut through the Lions defence to score under the posts. S. Briley converted for a 10-0 lead. The Lions recovered the ball near their own line. Runs by Ian Cronshaw, Duncan Clarke and Robin Cronshaw got them close to the Wolves line. A Duncan Clarke kick rebounded off a Wolves player and was recovered by Noah Cronshaw. The ball was moved across to Duncan Clarke. The Lions were then awarded a penalty for double tagging. Duncan Clarke kicked the penalty.

The Lions put pressure on the Wolves at the start of the second half. Runs by Ian Cronshaw and Robin Cronshaw got them into good field position. The ball was moved back to Ian Cronshaw who was then awarded a penalty for double tagging. The penalty allowed the Lions to continue their attack Duncan Clarke, Robin Cronshaw and Donna Robinson applying pressure. The ball was moved out to Ian Cronshaw who could not keep control of the ball. They continued to attack on their next possession. Runs by Donna Robinson and Duncan Clarke got them into good field position. Ian Cronshaw was then penalised for not tagging up. These errors did not deter the Lions. Runs by Ian Cronshaw, Duncan Clarke, Robin Cronshaw, Donna Robinson and Ian Cronshaw got them close to the line. The ball was moved across to Noah Cronshaw who was tackled short of the line on the last tackle. The pressure paid off in the 37th minute when the Lions recovered the ball and quickly moved it downfield with runs from Donna Robinson, Robin Cronshaw and Duncan Clarke who was tackled short of the line. The ball was passed to Robin Cronshaw who scored under the posts. Duncan Clarke converted. The Lions continued to attack. Runs by Donna Robinson and Duncan Clarke allowed Ian Cronshaw to put in a kick behind the Wolves. Robin Cronshaw touched down but he was deemed to have gone into touch in the in-goal area. The Lions recovered the ball from a Wolves kick. Runs by Donna Robinson, Ian Cronshaw, Noah Cronshaw and Duncan Clarke got them close to the line. Ian Cronshaw passed the ball out to Robin Cronshaw who was tackled short of the line. Duncan Clarke then switched the ball back to Robin Cronshaw who scored by the posts. Duncan Clarke converted to give the Lions a 14-10 lead.

The Lions attacked again from deep with runs from Duncan Clarke and Ian Cronshaw. Duncan Clarke put in a kick behind the Wolves defence. The ball bounced out of play before Robin Cronshaw could get to it. Aber Valley’s next possession ended with a knock on. Duncan Clarke, Ian Cronshaw and Cat Cronshaw got the Lions near to the Wolves line. Duncan Clarke’s kick was just too long for Noah Cronshaw to get to. The Wolves went back on the attack with runs from Marc Anderson and Cerys Stonehouse. A Riley Jones kick was recovered by Cerys Stonehouse, but she was penalised for being in an offside position. The Lions quickly moved the ball downfield. A kick by Cat Cronshaw hit the post. Ian Cronshaw gave chase but was unable to collect the ball. Aber Valley quickly moved the ball downfield. The Lions conceded a penalty near to their own line. S. Morris-Parker took the ball up before passing it to Thomas James to score by the posts. He converted his own try. The Lions went back on the attack and turned the ball over on the Wolves line.  Thomas James kicked the ball over the defence. Lloyd Stonehouse collected the ball to score. Thomas James converted.

Teams :

Aber Valley Wolves Wheelchair: Oscar Hawkins, S. Briley, Cerys Stonehouse, Thomas James, Marc Anderson. Subs: Lloyd Stonehouse, Riley Jones, S. Morris-Parker, S. Hawkins, Poppy Cayton.

Tries: L. Stonehouse (18,26,59), James (56)

Goals: Briley, James 2

Swinton Lions Development Wheelchair: Duncan Clarke, Donna Robinson, Noah Cronshaw, Cat Cronshaw, Ben Molnar. Subs: Ian Cronshaw, Robin Cronshaw.

Tries: R. Cronshaw (37,43)

Goals: Clarke 3

Pens: 3-4                  Half Time: 10-2

Players Of The Match:

Lloyd Stonehouse (Aber Valley Wolves)

Cat Cronshaw (Swinton Lions Development)