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NEWCASTLE EMLYN 24   KIDWELLY 26

This Brains SA West Wales Cup semi-final between the top two sides in Division One West certainly lived up to its billing. In a pulsating game with the result in doubt up until the final whistle Kidwelly emerged the winners by the narrowest of margins. On balance they probably deserved the victory due to their first half domination and some very determined defending at the death as Emlyn threw everything at them in attack.

Credit must go to the red and whites who came back from a 21 points to 7 deficit to take the lead with five minutes to go, only to lose to a superb individual try by Kidwelly number seven Richard Pearce. The game was memorable for not only two excellent individual tries but also for two quality team tries, one by either side. The difference between the sides in the end probably was the three penalties kicked by Kidwelly’s number ten Steffan Marshall.

The game opened at a breath taking pace with Kidwelly dominating the opening exchanges and running at Emlyn from everywhere. The red and whites were forced to defend desperately as the Kidwelly forwards supplied their backs with quick ball from all facets of play. Needless to say desperate defending normally ends up in  defenders conceding penalties and Kidwelly number ten Steffan Marshall was extremely accurate with the boot as he converted his first three attempts to give them a deserved nine point lead.

Then completely against the run of play Emlyn scored an absolute gem of a try. Finally winning some first phase possession backs and forwards combined well to go through a series of quick rucks progressing deep into Kidwelly territory ending with prop Jack Parry bursting through on the blind side of a ruck to cross for Emlyn’s first score. The young loose head prop had an excellent game and showed what an excellent prospect he is, the try was converted by Shaun Leonard.

Not to be outdone Kidwelly replied shortly after with an excellent team try of their own when some drives by the forwards culminated in the ball being moved accurately and quickly across the three quarter line for full back Tom Gravelle to cross for their first try converted by Marshall.  Maintaining their stranglehold on the game Kidwelly, Emlyn were forced to try and play off the back foot and against a side like Kidwelly that was always going to prove risky to say the least. Gravelle extended Kidwelly’s lead when a misunderstanding in the Emlyn three quarters saw the ball bounce lose and into Kidwelly hands for the full back to cross in the corner for his second try.

Gradually through the incisive running of the Emlyn centres Viv Jenkins and Alun Howells Emlyn came back into the game and progressed into the Kidwelly half as the break approached. From a scrum some thirty metres out outside half Steffan Evans spoted a gap in the Kidwelly defence and darted through to score a good individual try by the posts converted by Leonard.

The second half proved to be an absorbing fast paced encounter with neither side able to gain any ascendancy. Gradually Emlyn ate into Kidwelly’s lead with a well struck penalty by Leonard. Then with a quarter of an hour to go and Emlyn’s fitness starting to tell the lights went out! A floodlight failure meant the game was held up for some ten minutes allowing both sides a well deserved rest.

After the restart replacement winger Dan Davies had a determined run down the left hand side and found his co-winger Llyr Jones in support on the inside to score a fine try converted by Leonard to give the red and whites the lead for the first time with time running out.  Kidwelly came back strongly at Emlyn and some poor tackling by Emlyn forwards on the half way line saw Kidwelly number seven Richard Pearce burst through the Emlyn defence. Pearce is the brother of the Welsh Under 20’s winger Shaun Pearce and he showed a good turn of speed by brushing off the last Emlyn defender and sprinting some fifty metres to score in the corner.

With time running out Emlyn managed to regain the ball from the restart and despite going through a number of phases and progressing deep into the Kidwelly twenty two metre area they were unable to breach the often desperate Kidwelly defence nor convince Pontyberem referee Jon Hardy that the slow ball being recycled by Emlyn was due to defenders attempts at killing the ball. Eventually a knock on at a ruck resulted in the final whistle being blown to end a breath taking encounter between two very evenly matched sides.