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NEWCASTLE EMLYN 3 KIDWELLY 10

In almost, on occasions, Arctic like conditions these two sides served up an amazing game of rugby which thrilled another large crowd at Dol Wiber. That the game was played at all was testament to the hard work put in, in the morning, by a number of the Emlyn committee and supporters who managed to clear a great deal of standing water off the field. The strong northerly wind blowing straight down the pitch also helped to dry out the ground and the teams ran out onto a firm playing surface.

That changed almost from the kick off when the wintry weather returned with a vengeance and Emlyn found themselves playing into hail as well as the wind. Everyone who had watched the previous encounter knew that this was always going to be a close match between two sides who love to run the ball. The conditions being what they were every try scoring chance would have to be taken.

It was the red and whites who created the first scoring opportunity after some ten minutes play. Running the ball into the wind they moved it nicely from a scrum on the ten metre line. Full back Shaun Leonard timed his entry into the line to perfection, drew a man and fed flying winger Llyr Jones. Jones looked as if he might squeeze over by the corner flag but Kidwelly full back Dafydd Lewis had other ideas and managed to bring the winger down a metre from the line. Emlyn conceded a penalty at the subsequent ruck and the visitors were able to clear their line.

Spurred on by their passionate support the red and whites laid siege to the Kidwelly line with attack after attack, placing the visitors defence under a great deal of pressure. To their credit Kidwelly defended with a great deal of determination and discipline. One series of attacks saw an Emlyn forward stopped inches from the line on at least six occasions. Perhaps the ball could have been moved wide but with the elements in their faces keeping it tight did seem to be the best option.

When the visitors managed to clear their lines with some lengthy downfield kicks they found the Emlyn back three of Jones, Leonard and Dan Davies ready to defy the worsening conditions and run the ball back at them. When tackled the Emlyn back row of Patterson, Jones and Powell ensured that the loose ball was recycled and scrum half Mike Jones ran effectively from the base of the ruck until he had to leave the field at half time. To their credit Kidwelly also looked to play in a similar fashion and both sets of defences were made to work hard.

Misfortune struck the home side after some twenty minutes when powerful number eight Brynmor Jones was forced to leave the field with an ankle injury to be replaced by the hard working Bedwyr Davies. As the game progressed it became apparent that the bigger heavier visiting forwards were able to make more ground with the ball than the lighter Emlyn eight and the early loss of Jones proved to be crucial.

Kidwelly were the first to score when outside half Steffan Marshall kicked a twenty metre penalty on the half hour mark. Emlyn replied quickly with a forty metre penalty kicked by Shaun Leonard. From the restart disaster struck the home side when the attempted clearance kick from inside their twenty two was charged down by Kidwelly. Flanker Richard Pearce was quickest to react and won the race to touch the ball down over the Emlyn line, the try well converted by Marshall.

Emlyn did have an opportunity to narrow the gap just before half time but Leonard just missed with another long range penalty effort. With defences being on top it was to the credit of both teams that they conceded so few penalties during the course of the game. Kidwelly showed tremendous composure and discipline and allowed the Emlyn kickers only two more attempts at goal in the second half, both of them long range efforts which were only just wide of the mark.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with both sides generally using their forwards to carry the ball through the mud. It was in this area that the visitors did have a slight edge on the home side with their number eight Chris Eldred being simply outstanding in the work that he did. Playing his last game before joining Llandovery he showed what a benefit he will be for the Premiership side with his speed off the mark and strength to drive through tackles.

When Emlyn looked to try and move the ball wider their centres Viv Jenkins and Alun Howells were well marshalled by their opposite numbers. With the wind at their backs Emlyn played most of the second half in the Kidwelly half but were unable to break through for the decisive score. The best opportunity of the half game when winger Dan Davies counter attacked from deep and after a mazy run of some fifty metres found replacement prop Emrys Davies up in support. The prop was quickly caught by the visitors and tackled on the twenty two and the home side were unable to secure the quick ball necessary to complete the move.

   Games like this are decided by small margins and quite often the bounce of the ball. With time running out Emlyn exerted a great deal of pressure on the Kidwelly line. A kick charge down in the in-goal area by Powell frustratingly for Emlyn saw the ball bounce sideways to elude the attackers and go over the touch in-goal line. From the resulting scrum Emlyn tried again and again to score through their forwards all to no avail. The ball was then moved out to outside half Harries whose cross kick unfortunately bounced out of play and the final whistle went to the jubilation of the visitors and their supporters.