Gwalia Lighting 31-26 Glasgow Warriors

Gwalia Lighting take the win by a narrow margin in the last minutes of the game, after an incredible performance from both sides. Round four of the Celtic Challenge gave us an action packed match in Wales.

A lovely day in the Welsh town welcomed the Scottish team for what it was going to be a great game of rugby. The home side were the first ones to open up the score of the afternoon, Rhodd Parry was the one to cross the Warrior’s try-line three minutes into the game. Conversion successful by Carys Hughes.

Glasgow Warriors answered back to this start, at the fifteen minutes mark, with an amazing try from Briar McNamara. The scrum-half, Mairi McDonald spotted Ceitidh Ainsworth for a quick pass looking to open up a space on the welsh defence line. After a carry on full of force, Ainsworth linked with McNamara who sped away into the Gwalia’s try area. Conversion was unsuccessful this time.

This seemed to provide Warriors with a boost of confidence. They showcased to be strong in key moments of the first half which brought them the rewards. Gemma Bell was the one that gave Glasgow their second try and put the visitors on the lead for the first time in the match. The extra points of the conversion were added by Briar McNamara.

Their lead only seemed to expand, as a minute later, Sky Phimister delivered another try for the Scottish side. After Gwalia’s fly-half, Carys Hughes attempted to kick away the ball in defence of Glasgow’s attack. Phimister was kick to catch it from the air and avoided four Welsh players on her way over the opposition’s line. Conversion points added by McNamara once again.

Both teams went to the half time break looking to analyse the plays from that first period and coming back stronger for the continuation of the match. The score was Gwalia Lighting 7-19 Glasgow Warriors.

In return to the pitch, both teams were more even in defence and attack. Gwalia came back and started to put on a fight. Alaw Pyrs opened up the score for the second half and gave the Welsh side five more points. The conversion this time was unsuccessful.

The last 20 minutes of the match were on a knife-edge. Glasgow kept looking strong and, defended against all the attacks Gwalia kept creating on their side. The Welsh team looked like they had been told to keep the play always within Glasgow’s 22 area. Briar McNamara landed another try for Glasgow, making it their fourth try of the afternoon, earning them a bonus point.

Courtney Greenway retributed from the home side, giving the hosts their third and fourth try, giving them also their bonus point of the afternoon. The game ended up being decided in the last few minutes by a fine margin. Despite Glasgow being sturdy on defence, one final attack from the hosts saw them pushing the ball into touch by the hands of Bryonie King as the clock ticked past the 80-minute mark. Conversion was successful by Hughes. Gwalia Lighting took the win and Glasgow Warriors come away with two bonus points.

Overall a really good game with rugby. Full time score was Gwalia Lighting 31-26 Glasgow Warriors.

Post match thoughts from head coach, Lindsey Smith:

“There are many positives from today, we scored four really good tries, we were very physical in the right areas and the right times. We also had some really good performances from people like Aicha Sutcliffe, Aisha Zameer and Briar McNamara, felt like Mairi McDonald managed the game really well at 9.

There are obviously some improvements to make for our next game, like being able to manage the game when it gets more difficult for us. But overall, I am very proud of the performance the girls put on and the ability they showed to control the game at times, but now we need to work to make that a 80 minute performance.

We also are pleased to leave with two bonus points”

Glasgow’s captain for today’s match Mairi McDonald also shared her thoughts:

“I thought the game today was a good showcase of how we can play. It was a physical game and Gwalia brought it to us, we adapted well and managed to score some nice tries. We have a week break now, so it’s a good time for us to review the game, look at what we can work on and continue to build on our performances.

To get 2 bonus points is a great positive for us and now we have to keep improving as a full squad and we will look forward to seeing Gwalia again when they come to Scotstoun”