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NEWCASTLE EMLYN 17 LLANGENNECH 13

In this first ever League meeting between the two clubs it was the home side who narrowly won this hard fought encounter. Having lost at the end of October to Emlyn at home in the WRU Bowl, Llangennech came determined to show who were the better side. With no fixtures in the Premiership they were able to call on the services of a few of their ex-players who normally operate at the semi-professional level. Their pack of forwards were comfortably three stones a man heavier than their Emlyn counterparts and gave the Emlyn forwards a torrid time at the scrum. Emlyn’s cause was not helped before the kick off when their tight head prop Gethin Davies had to withdraw from the side due to illness to be replaced by Charles Gale.

To their credit this young Emlyn side do not give in easily and their determination to win was evident in the performances of everyone who played. Both sides looked to try and move the ball on the excellent Dol Wiber surface and the nil - nil half time score was not a true reflection of what was becoming an absorbing contest. The tackle area was fiercely contested and the Emlyn back row of Owain Powell, Gareth Patterson and Bedwyr Davies were outstanding in their intelligent work in this area. Time and again the visitor’s attempts to drive around the fringes were met by a wall of Emlyn tacklers and these three were quick to get in on the tackled player to try and win the loose ball.

The battle between two excellent sets of back rows was one of the many intriguing contests between these two evenly matched sides. Llangennech might have had superiority at the scrum but the lineout was a completely different matter. Man of the match Dyfed Morgan reigned supreme at the lineout and used his athleticism to steal a number of the opposition throw-ins as well as his own. He was ably supported by his fellow second row Dan Havard who won some vital ball for the home side as the game entered its final stages.

To their credit the Emlyn front row of skipper Dai Jones, Alex Williams and Charles Gale battled hard against their much heavier opponents. During the first half Llangennech spurned a relatively easy penalty kick and decided to go to the corner. The lineout resulted in a scrum five metres out for the visitors and when they went for their third consecutive attempt at a pushover try, the Emlyn front row managed to get underneath their opponents and were awarded a penalty kick to relieve the pressure.

Emlyn’s best opportunity in the first half came from a break down the left wing by scrum half Mike Jones. From the tackle the ball was moved out to right wing Llyr Jones who was tackled into touch just short of the visitors line. The resulting lineout saw Morgan steal the ball on the Llangennech throw and it took some desperate defending by the visitors to stop Powell and fly half Rhidian Harries from scoring.

The start of the second half saw the home side playing some very attractive rugby as they tried to breach the visitors defence. Centres Viv Jenkins and Alun Howells have struck up an excellent partnership and continually asked questions of the visitors defence. A move down the left hand side saw winger Dan Davies just failing to hold on to a possible try scoring pass which went into touch. From the resultant lineout Morgan again stole Llangennech ball, Powell swooped on the rolling ball and flicked it up to Dan Davies. The winger was not to be denied a second time and went on a mazy weaving run leaving three defenders in his wake to cross by the posts for a try he converted.

Emlyn reverted to their old bad habit of not securing possession from the kick off allowing Llangennech to come back at the home side and place their line under pressure. Emlyn looked to be coping with these attacks but from turnover ball number eight Patterson found himself isolated and was penalised for not releasing the ball, allowing Chris Moore to kick the penalty.

This galvanised the home side and they proceeded to put together some fine attacking moves. A perfectly timed pass by centre Jenkins saw full back Shaun Leonard clean through with only the full back to beat, unfortunately Leonard’s pass to the supporting Harries was knocked on. Undeterred Emlyn continued to press and again from the lineout ball supplied by Morgan the backs executed a training ground move perfectly. Leonard’s entry into the line was well timed resulting in him passing to the supporting Alun Howells who crossed for a try near the touchlines excellently converted by Dan Davies.

Disaster struck soon afterwards when flanker Bedwyr Davies was sin-binned and with only seven forwards the home side struggled to hold the visitors at scrum time. It came as no surprise to the large crowd when Llangennech opted for a scrum on the Emlyn twenty two and proceeded to march the home forwards backwards until the excellent referee Colin Kirkhouse awarded them a penalty try converted by Moore.

The introduction of Llanelli centre Richard Thomas brought some more attacking power to the visitors and a thirty metre break by him had the home defence at full stretch. An injury to prop Charles Gale saw the home side for the first time ever having to revert to uncontested scrums. Emlyn defended with a great deal of determination none more so than replacement prop Jack Parry who once put in two excellent tackles on opponents in the same movement. With eight minutes to go for some strange reason Emlyn tried to run the ball out of their own twenty two and from the resulting ruck they were penalised allowing Moore to kick another penalty.

Emlyn though were determined to win the game and managed to ensure Llangennech were kept pinned in their own half for the remaining minutes of this absorbing match. With time running out Llangennech conceded a penalty on their ten metre line for Emlyn winger Dan Davies to convert with the last kick of the game.