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St Albans v Caerau was an entertaining local derby.  With the weather set fair, and a good crowd supporting both sides, it was a hard fought but fair, entertaining game that could have gone either way.  Caerau came out of the blocks first and dominated early territory and possession.  The Buns looked dangerous on the counter but it came as no surprise when Caerau set up a position for a backs move that gave the visitors a deserved lead.  However, St Albans building on their improved play of recent weeks got back into the game in typical fashion.  They scored a great team try as backs and forwards combined to send skipper Dan Millward racing over for the equalising score.  The Buns had the wind in their sails but credit Caerau for again getting on top up front and moving into a 12-5 interval lead.

 With Caerau’s scrum having the edge, they were favourites for the game, but the Buns hung on in there.  The pack dug deep – and their improved play was rewarded when a scrum near the line resulting in a home try.  With both sides looking for the win, Caerau broke up a home attack with a clearing kick which fell to George Hunt Pain who backed up his impressive form with another try.  Caerau replied with a penalty to bring the score to 17-15 to St Albans who extended their lead with a Mike Thomas drop goal.  Caerau pressed to the end – but the Buns defended for their life and held out for a gutsy 20-15 win.  Centre, Walter Gilbert was prominent in the defensive effort and carried well in attack.  His best performance in a Buns’ shirt.

Buoyed by two victories, St Albans faced unbeaten league leaders, Taffs Well after a three day turnaround.  This paled into insignificance against the Well who crammed 8 games plus a Cup Final into a three week period.  The visitors had a big squad – but they were being carefully managed as Coaches tried their best to get a result out of tired legs.  In contrast, the Buns were again short on the bench, but the team were eager to back up their two recent successes.

In an entertaining game,  both sides moved the ball with early success.  With the Buns’s pack starting well – the game was stretched and open – not what the Taffs Well Coaches & physio’s necessarily wanted.  Taffs Well kept taking the lead but St Albans kept hitting back and midway through the second half the scores were 20 each – an upset on the cards.  However by making good use of their bench – and by tightening up their approach – the Taffs Well Coaches got the desired results as the away team pulled away to a merited, if hard fought, bonus point victory.  Again, despite changes, and inevitable absentees for a midweek game, the Buns played with style, cohesion and pushed the League Leaders all the way.  Buns try scorers were George Pain & permitting James Bain with Mike Thomas adding the kicking points, including a well taken drop goal.  A 34-20 score line was a fair reflection of  the game but St Albans’ play merited a Bonus Point.

The last game for St Albans was away to Cowbridge, on a Monday evening, two days after the Buns’ Club Dinner.  With the original fixture being rained off and a further late postponement, again the visitors were struggling to assemble a squad.  The return of Nad Butt, Gareth Whitehouse and Nathan ‘Smiler’ Hayde and Luke Gibson was a boost to the Buns.  Adding ‘old boys’ to the likes of regulars, such as Adam Gardiner, Josh Price, Adnam Omar, Luke Doherty, Max Hart, Nicky Kelly and Mike Thomas gave St Albans cause for optimism.

Cowbridge had suffered two recent bad injuries – and the Buns asked that their best wishes be passed on to players concerned.  For the rearranged fixture, Cowbridge were able to call on some of their exceptional Youth talent and a fast game was guaranteed.  From the kick off it was clear that Cowbridge wanted to keep ball in hand & the Buns replied in kind.  A fast, loose, entertaining game followed with both sides having their moments.  Cowbridge’s strike power behind was always likely to prevail – but the Buns’ all round game kept them very much in the game.  Like the Taffs Well game, St Albans kept playing and late in the Second Half got level with Cowbridge at 26 each.  Buns tries were scored by, the permitted Josh Dunleavy, Nathan Hayde, A N Other and a first ever Buns try for Luke Doherty.  Mike Thomas added the kicks.

Cowbridge’s two late converted tries gave them a deserved victory – but the St Albans’ performance  probably deserved an additional bonus point to the point secured.

All at St Albans were very grateful to the boys for their end of season effort.  Results might have been mixed but there were signs that improvement was happening at both a team and individual level.

The Club hopes that all players have a great Summer, enjoy their holidays, and look forward to seeing returning faces in mid-July for pre-season training.