Saturday 17 January 2026 K.O.14:30

Caldicot Leisure Centre, Caldicot.

Magor RFC 12 – 12 Hirwaun RFC

This week, we welcomed Hirwaun RFC to Caldicot Leisure Centre for the return match in, what is for each team, an over 100 mile round trip. The away fixture had been a tight affair with Magor stealing the points with the last kick of a tight game and so it proved again.

Magor started well and crossed the line with some strong running from loanee Rhys Collier but the ball was held up and Hirwaun cleared the lines. They came back strongly and after 15 minutes it was the away team that opened the scoring with the conversion making it Magor 0 – 7 Hirwaun.

Just eight minutes later, Magor struck back with a move starting from possession gained through a Magor scrum on the Magor 22m line. A nice break from outside centre Iestyn Rollings took the ball deep into the Hirwaun half and the final pass ended up in the hands of right wing Jaxon Morgan who crossed in the corner. The try was converted by number 10 Ellis Wainwright.

Hirwaun had a chance to stretch ahead on the half hour mark but the tricky penalty kick went to the right of the uprights. They did, however, go five points clear just before halftime with an unconverted try over on the left making the halftime score Magor 7 – 12 Hirwaun.

Ten minutes into the second half, Magor had the opportunity to claw back through a penalty but failed to convert it. They did however tie up the game midway through the second half with a try from replacement Aeddan Erasmus. A line out on the left hand side of the field, inside the Hirwaun 22 gave the forwards the chance to gain some territory, debutant Wes Cunliffe driving hard into the defence who strayed offside. The quick tap, further pushed the Hirwaun defensive line and a second offside offence brought a warning from the referee. A second quick tap also gained yards until the ball was picked up by Erasmus on the Hirwaun line and he dived over for the score.

The only other notable events during the fourth quarter of the game were a minor dust up between the two teams leading to a yellow card for Magor’s Danny Hodges and a red card for Hirwaun for some offensive language aimed at the referee. Magor had a last chance to take the spoils again with a late penalty but unlike the away fixture it wasn’t to be and it stayed honours even.

Sometimes a draw can seem like a win but this seemed like one that got away and dented our good home record.

Again a special mention must go to our young female referee Niamh Corcoran- Lockley who managed the game well. We are very happy to be able to give these young referees game time to build their experience.

Magor: Aaron Boardman, Jaxon Morgan, Iestyn Rollings, Rhys Collier, Ashley Maskell, Ellis Wainwright (c), Ben Hampson, Wesley Cunnliffe, Lee Cox, Simon Reece, Andy Gully, Danny Hodges, Rhys Delap, Connor Bergstrom, Iwan White

Replacements: Josh Buffery, Will Kinghan, Aeddan Erasmus, Sam Doddridge, Niall Roberts, Tom Waters, Liam Parsons

Magor Scorers: Tries – Jaxon Morgan, Aeddan Erasmus, Conversion – Ellis Wainwright 

Hirwaun Scorers: Tries – 2, Conversions – 1

Referee: Niamh Corcoran-Lockley

Magor Man of the Match: Simon Reece