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