Season: 2025/2026

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Magor RFC vs Old Tyleryan RFC

Saturday 18 October 2025 K.O.14:30

Caldicot Leisure Centre, Caldicot.

Magor RFC 33 – 17 Old Tyleryan RFC

This week saw our second home league game of the season against our old friends Old Tyleryan RFC. The afternoon started with a minute’s silence in memory of an old friend of our wing Jason King. Rest in Peace Gavin Lee Rees.

Once underway, the first half could not have gone any better for Magor. Things could have been different. Straight from the kick off, Old Ts earned a kickable penalty but, unfortunately for them it went wide. The first try came from a Magor penalty at the other end of the field. Around 6m out from the Old Ts try line, Morgan Tyler took a tap penalty and fed fly half Iestyn Rollings who gave the ball to Josh Buffery. Josh made ground and the ball was recycled back to Iestyn who passed to Lee Cox running a fine line. Old Ts weren’t fooled and got a tackle in but Coxy popped the ball up to Greg Turner who crossed unopposed for the try. Ryan Bedborough converted.

Last week, at Hirwaun, the bounce of the ball was unkind to Jason King but this week it could not have bounced better. A Magor penalty deep in our half was kicked to touch and from this platform, the boys made ground. Greg Turner and Joel Palmizi both pushed the defensive line back until the ball came back to Iestyn who chipped into a bit of space in front of the fullback. The ball bounced right then left completely eluding the Old Ts 15 and Jason, who, again had chased the kick, benefitted this time from the bounce to cross for Magor’s second. Again Ryan converted.

The first half try fest was slightly interrupted by another failed attempt on goal from Old Ts but, with Old Ts pressing through a lineout on the Magor 22, a penalty for holding on gave Iestyn the opportunity of a quick tap and the backline lit up – Greg Turner, Luis Kington and then Ryan Bedborough ran the ball from one 22 to the other. Ryan was hauled down but the Old Ts defence was stretched and a quick pick up by Iestyn from the ruck meant that he could finish off the move that he started with a try. Ryan Bedborough kept his 100% record and converted making the score Magor 21 – 0 Old Ts at half time.

Old Ts didn’t roll over and struck back about 7 minutes into the second half with an unconverted try of their own, their all action hooker taking a quick tap and barging over. That same hooker was also taking the kicks for Old Ts and, for the third time, was unsuccessful.

Despite the Old Ts improvement, the scoring continued in Magor’s favour. This time a Magor lineout deep in the Old Ts half led to a dominant maul and Will Jones at the back sneaked through to earn the try BP, no conversion this time.

Again, Old Ts weren’t done and scored another just a couple of minutes later. The hooker again involved popping the ball up to the 6 for the 5 points and getting the extra 2.

It was Old Ts who scored next, twenty minutes later. Magor found themselves a man down thanks to a yellow card for Chris Stephens for leading with the elbow. Old Ts made their way down field and, from a tapped penalty on the Magor 5m line, made the extra man count with a winger’s try in the corner to bring the scores to Magor 26 – 17 Old Ts and what could have been an uncomfortable finish.

But there was to be no comeback and Magor extended the lead to 33 with another try, this time from Ryan Bedborough with an Ellis Wainwright conversion closing the game out at Magor 33 – 17 Old Tyleryan.

Magor: Ryan Bedborough, Morgan Davies, Louis Kington, Greg Turner, Jason King, Iestyn Rollings (c), Morgan Tyler, Will Jones, Lee Cox, Joel Palmizi, Danny Hodges, Will Kinghan, Jaden Quinn, Josh Bufferey, Iwan White

Replacements: Sam Doddridge, Ellis Wainwright, Aaron Boardman, Tom Turner, Aeddan Erasmus, Chris Stephens, James Clement

Magor Scorers: Tries – Iestyn Rollings, Greg Turner, Jason King, Will Jones, Ryan Bedborough, Conversion – Ryan Bedborough 3, Ellis Wainwright

Old Tyleryan: Tries – 3, Conversions – 1, 

Referee: Ian Jones

Matchday Programme

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Hirwaun RFC vs Magor RFC

Saturday 11 October 2025 K.O.14:30

Hirwaun Welfare Ground, Hirwaun.

Hirwaun RFC 32 – 35 Magor RFC

What a day! We all took a bus from Caldicot Leisure Centre with a stop off in Magor for the over 1 hour trip away to Hirwaun. Surprisingly it was a glorious Autumn day up there and the boys were good to go against a team we had never met before.

What a start! The two sides sized each other up for the first few minutes but on around the 5 minute mark a Hirwaun pass inside from the right wing on the Magor 10m line was pinched by Iestyn Rollings who kicked into acres of space. The Hirwaun 13 gathered and should have been backed up by his winger but great pressure by Louis Kington and pressure from Ross Speirs pushed him off the ball leaving an easy pick up for Morgan Davies to score for the first Magor try. No conversion but confidence was high. However, Hirwaun reacted well and pressed for the next 15 mins, finally breaking through the stubborn defence thanks to the help of a couple of penalties. No conversion again, match tied at 5 – 5.

Hirwaun took the lead on the half hour mark with a well worked try down the left wing, this time the tricky kick was converted.

The restart just missed the 10m mark by inches bringing the teams back to the halfway line for a scrum but the Magor 8 was definitely on top and eventually a scrum penalty came our way which was sent downfield by Ross Speirs who missed touch but followed up the kick, forcing Hirwaun to touch the ball down resulting in a goal line drop out. Magor, in possession, went first left then right then left again and Joel Palmizi found the space to coast over for Magor’s second. Ryan Bedborough this time was successful with the conversion to pull the sides level at 12 – 12.

Just five minutes later Magor scored a third and what a thing of beauty it was. The move started with a scrum on the Magor 22 thanks to a fumbled Hirwaun line out. Ross kicked ahead and Louis collected and made some good yards. Offload in the tackle to Joel, offload in the tackle to Ross, Ross to Morgan on the left wing, try! No conversion again but half time came with Magor stretching the lead even further thanks to a penalty from Ryan Bedborough, Hirwaun 12 – 20 Magor.

What a start to the second half! Magor kicked off and Hirwaun eventually kicked downfield to Lee Cox on the left wing. Coxy to Joel, Joel to Beds, Beds to Ross, Ross to Jason King try in the right corner – simple rugby done well making the ball do the work. This time Ryan’s conversion was successful to further stretch the lead. Try bonus point in the bag.

The next 15 minutes consisted of Magor pressure and sturdy Hirwaun defence until the wall was finally breached. A penalty put Magor deep into the Hirwaun 22 for a lineout and the driving mall took the ball to within yards of the Hirwaun line. Ross carried hard from the recycled ball away to the left of the maul and Ben Hampson smartly switched play thanks to a Iestyn Rollings move to the right, Iestyn crossing for Magor’s fifth. The conversion didn’t go over but with the score at Hirwaun 12 – 32 Magor, it looked like the job was done. But don’t speak too soon.

What a comeback! Hirwaun scored four unanswered tries within the next 15 minutes, probably due, in no small part, to having gone to uncontested scrums thus nullifying Magor’s dominance in this part of the game. None of them were successfully converted leaving the game hanging in the balance with seconds left on the clock at 32 – 32.

At this point the stress levels were off the chart. Magor pressed and, perhaps the turning point of the game came when Hirwaun sent a wayward pass down the line which was fumbled giving Magor possession in the Hirwaun half. Maybe if the scrums weren’t uncontested Hirwaun could have at least tried to get the ball back but Magor were able to probe the defence with some good yards made by replacement prop Rhys Delap and replacement hooker Sam Doddridge. With just seconds left on the clock, Ben Hampson spun the ball out to Iestyn on his right and Iestyn timed his pass perfectly to tempt the defending back line into a deliberate knock on.

What a finish! With the last kick of the game, Ross Speirs stepped up to pop the penalty over and to take home all 5 points.

What a game! The bus ride home was a blast and the win takes us up to second place in the league table. Happy days!

Magor: Ryan Bedborough, Morgan Davies, Louis Kington, Ross Speirs (C), Jason King, Iestyn Rollings, Ben Hampson, Lee Cox, Joel Palmizi, Simon Reece, Danny Hodges, Andy Gully, Jaden Quinn, Josh Bufferey, Iwan White

Replacements: Sam Doddridge, Louis Bibby, Aaron Boardman, Rhys Delap, Will Kinghan, Jaxon Morgan, Greg Turner

Magor Scorers: Tries – Morgan Davies 2, Joel Palmizi, Jason King, Iestyn Rollings, Conversion – Ryan Bedborough 2, Penalty – Ryan Bedborough, Ross Speirs

Hirwaun: Tries – 6, Conversions – 1, 

Referee: Alan Shephard

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Llanrumney RFC vs Magor RFC

Saturday 27 September 2025 K.O.14:30

Cardiff University Sports Centre, Llanrumney.

Llanrumney RFC 43 – 20 Magor RFC

Our Division 5 Cup campaign started with the short trip down the motorway to Llanrumney RFC, a team we have never played before to play on the swanky, Cardiff University 4G pitch.

The proceedings started with a very respectful one minute silence in memory of Rhys & Louis Delap’s grandmother, Julie, who sadly passed away earlier in the week. The thoughts of the whole Magor family are with the Delaps at this sad time.

Llanrumney struck first just three minutes into the game with a try scored over on their right. No conversion but just 10 minutes later Llanrumney stretched the lead to 8 with a penalty kick in front of the posts.

Magor didn’t panic and exerted pressure on the Llanrumney defence with the Magor pack gaining the upper hand in a succession of scrums. The last one led to a penalty but the kick to touch unfortunately went dead allowing Llanrumney to clear. However, the goal line drop out just meant more Magor pressure until a penalty allowed the hosts to really get out of jail. Again Magor applied the pressure but the defense held firm until Magor were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which Matt Doddridge slotted over.

Magor carried on in the same vein with Danny Hodges, Jaden Quinn, Andy Gully all carrying well and the backs gaining ground through some sharp runs and tactical kicking. However, the boys were hit by a body blow. With a Llanrumney lineout on their 5m line thanks to a nice chip over the defence by Jason King giving a potential attacking opportunity, the Llanrumney number 8 took the ball and, like the parting of the Red Sea, a gap opened up which he took. Showing some great pace he basically raced the length of the pitch to score. The conversion made it Llanrumney 15 – 3 Magor.

Almost immediately after the restart, the hosts struck again creating a 4 on 1, which they didn’t squander, taking us into half time with Llanrumney now comfortably 22 – 3 up. Clearly the second half was going to be an uphill struggle.

The misery continued in the second half. The hosts rumbled up to halfway aided by a couple of penalties allowing their impressive back line to attack again. Try number four for the hosts and the game well and truly slipping away from us.

The boys didn’t give up and the visitors scored 10 minutes later. Again, plenty of Magor pressure and a dominant scrum put pressure on Llanrumney with Magor opting for a scrum at each penalty given away. Finally this paid off after Lee Cox, now on for original number eight and fellow coach Chris Doddridge, picked up and supplied Jason King. Morgan Davies hit the defensive line and eventually Andy Gully crossed for the try.

Yet again, Magor pressed with some great moments, Iestyn Rollings spotting a gap, Danny Hodges keeping the momentum by driving into the defensive line and an outrageous hand off from Lee Cox but a promising move was snuffed out by the Llanrumney hooker being offside and perhaps paying the price for a succession of penalties by earning a yellow card.

With the hooker replaced, of course Magor went for a scrum at the resulting penalty. Possession was scrappy but again Danny hit the defensive wall and Aeddan “Rassie” Erasmus picked up and crossed for the try. No conversion but Magor were gaining a little more respect.

Of course, the rugby gods were not looking favourably on us and a loose pass fell to the Llanrumney 10 who raced away to put their centre in under the posts. Again, just when Magor were clawing back into the game, a breakaway try killed the momentum. Llanrumney 36 – 13 Magor.

Magor were right back on the front foot and Ross Speirs crossed the try line but the ball was held up. The goal line drop out was caught by James Clement who beat four defenders and looked like he would go all the way until a desperate ankle tap stopped his forward motion. Lee Frost, Iestyn Rollings, Joel Palmizi all handled the ball down the line to Louis Bibby but again the home defence held firm and bundled Louis into touch.

Another Magor attack from a tapped penalty came to nothing when, in the opinion of this humble commentator, the home team deliberately knocked the ball forward to potentially deny us a try. Nothing more than a lineout to the home team came of it.

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice but here we were on the receiving end of yet another breakaway Llanrumney try. A loose ball in their half was pounced upon and popped up for the home 10 to race away.

Magor had the last word. A scrum just outside the home 22 gained some metres and Iestyn, who had played centre, 10 and 9 earning him a Man of the Match award fed Ross who broke the line to put Louis Bibby through and no one was going to stop him. Ross converted making the final score Llanrumney 43 – 20 Magor.

Sometimes you get the breaks and sometimes you don’t. Llanrumney certainly got the breaks but sometimes you also have to put your hands up and say the better team won and this was the case. We wish Llanrumney the best of luck in the rest of the competition.    

Magor: Morgan Davies, Aaron Boardman, Iestyn Rollings, Ross Speirs (C), Ben Hampson, Matt Doddridge, Jason King, Chris Doddridge, Joel Palmizi, Simon Reece, Danny Hodges, Andy Gully, Jaden Quinn, Josh Buffrey, Iwan White

Replacements: Sam Doddridge, Aeddan Erasmus, Lee Cox, James Clement, Lee Frost, Louis Bibby

Magor Scorers: Tries – Andy Gully, Aeddan Erasmus, Louis Bibby, Conversion – Ross Speirs, Penalty – Matt Doddridge

Llanrumney: Tries – 6, Conversions – 5, Penalty – 1

Referee: Nathan Hughes

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