Mallet Cup Final 2008

CARDIFF ARMS PARK
30th APRIL 2008
CIACS RFC 10-22 UWIC II

It was 18 years since the CIAC's were last at Cardiff Arms Park where they won the Ninian Stuart Cup in 1990 following a continuing run of appearances at the park for 13 years straight.

After missing out on the final the previous year to Pentyrch RFC in the Semi Final of the Mallet Cup, there was  a lot of determination to make up for the loss.

The following year, we were drawn against Fairwater II RFC in the Quarter Finals to be played at their ground. This was a hard fought game which was victorious by a slim win of 10-12 thanks to the boot of No.10 Rhodri "Jinks' Jenkins.

The Semi Final was to be played at a neutral ground - St Albans.
We were up against Rumney II RFC who were dominant throughout the season beating the CIACS 68-5 at the start of the season. It was a beaming hot day and there were plenty of supporters to say the least. Again, this was a very hard fought game, it went back and forth, back and forth and gradually as time passed we could see the lads giving it their all. Eventually, thanks to a very well deserved try by Gareth Mahoney, the CIACS were victorious by 13-15.......... It was on to the Arms Park.......(for half a dark)..........against local university UWIC II.

After watching St Peters win the Ninian Stuart Cup, we prepared for the game of our season.

This was by far the best performance the team had put in recent years and fully deserved our place on Cardiff Blues' national ground.
Like the quarter final and semi final previously, this was again a very hard fought match, the first half was pretty much one way in UWIC's favour where they were gifted 2 unanswered tries so the CIAC's were going in to the tunnel with heads lower than usual.....this was our turning point.

CIAC's came out in the second half ready for a battle....and that it was!!

This was CIAC's half! UWIC couldn't score one point against the the boys from the Bay and they were constantly on the back foot. Unfortunately the CIAC's couldn't secure enough points that were conceded in the first half and only managed the two tries from Man of the Match Rhodri "Jinks' Jenkins and adopted CIAC Brett Davies but it was enough to gain back our pride from the poor performance of the first half.

As an overall, despite UWIC's two give away tries, the score did not reflect the game and we were cheered on and off the pitch as true Champions of the Bay.

WELL DONE LADS! What an experience!

Pictures of this game are in the Videos & Photos section of the website.

15 - Alex Ahmed

14 - Gogg Evans

13 - Gareth Mahoney

12 - Jason Ahmed

11 - James Gardiner

10 - Rhodri Jenkins

9 - Jack Davies

8 - Gareth Sullivan

7 - Kaid Hassan

6 - Marcus Caudle

5 - Matt Daniels

4 - Gary Ward

3 - Steven Webber

2 - James Davies

1 - Tim Davies

Replacements from:

Chris Hedley, James Emery, Brett Davies, Daniel Fofana, Jason Hori, Simon Young, Joseph Khan, Dean Gardiner & Richie 'Boxkick'.

Coaches:

Larry Ford, Curtis Taylor, Steve Thomas and Franklyn Parris.