Aberavon 20 Newport 16
In a game that was to decide bottom spot in the table every tackle, scrum, lineout and refereeing decision were to be vital and the game was certainly a nail-biter right to the final whistle.
Aberavon led 17-6 at the interval and later by 20-6 but Newport spent most of the final quarter camped in the Aberavon half.
The game was won by Aberavon’s scrummage superiority with their front-row pounding all six players that Newport placed there.
David Pritchard and loose-head prop Rowan Jenkins were quite outstanding and head coach Jason Hyatt said: “Obviously I am delighted with this result and it was our magnificent scrummaging that did it. Rowan Jenkins, Ieuan Davies and Nicky Thomas were outstanding and I also applaud referee Ben Whitehouse for the way he handled the match and the way he took decisive decisions.”
It was a return to the Talbot Athletic Ground for Newport backs coach Craig Warlow, once a team-mate of Hyatt at Llanelli. He said: “If I had to sum it up, I could do so in five letters – S-C-R-U-M.”
Aberavon fly half Cameron Clement kicked an early penalty, but Geraint O’Driscoll levelled before Aberavon drove strongly at successive scrums to gain a penalty try with Clement converting.
Again O’Driscoll replied but Rob Dudley-Jones did magnificently to catch, run and pass to Andrews who sent inside to the fast-following Nathan Brown went crashing over as he was tackled.
Clement converted with a splendid kick from a difficult position.
Newport lost David Pattison to a yellow card and Clement landed a penalty, but again O’Driscoll replied. Then, Aberavon had Ieuan Davies carded and Newport replacement prop James Greenfield did well to score and O’Driscoll converted.
It was nip and tuck and Angus O’Brien racied away from an interception with Ashton Hewitt in support,. but somehow Andrews and teammates got back to save the day and Aberavon were off the bottom.
Neath 15 Bedwas 14
A late rally earned Bedwas a losing bonus point which although welcome was probably not deserved as Neath dominated this game for long periods, Bedwas only managing to stay in the game due to Dai Langdon’s missed penalty attempts.
Langdon was on target with his first penalty attempt with only two minutes on the clock. Neath continued to pressure Bedwas into mistakes and increased their lead after ten minutes through flanker Steffan Jones, Langdon adding the extras.
Bedwas were finding it difficult to get out of their own half and when they did they turned over possession or conceded penalties. Langdon missed three penalty chances on 23, 26 and 37 minutes which would have given his side an unassailable lead. Shortly before half time Neath right wing Jamie Davies suffered an injury competing for a high ball, the second half being delayed by twenty minutes whilst the ambulance arrived and Davies stretchered off. Bedwas RFC wish him a speedy recovery.
The delay didn’t appear to affect his colleagues too much and Neath were soon back on the attack, although the hapless Langdon was still unable to find the target as he missed another shot at goal after 49 minutes.
Bedwas’s own ace kicker Richard Powell entered the fray on 52 minutes replacing Jack Maynard. Powell’s first task being a kick at goal from the half way line, which although on target was just short.
Arron Coundley’s yellow card after 55 minutes gave Bedwas hope but they were unable to take advantage of the extra man. Indeed Wilkes’s somewhat harsh yellow card shortly before Coundley returned to the field after a touch judge spotted an offence gave Neath the extra man and after Bedwas failed to clear a relieving kick centre Ashley Evans ran through for a try, Langdon missing the conversion.
Bedwas picked themselves up and took the game to Neath. Pinches made a couple of good breaks and then Phill Rees went agonisingly close to scoring but unfortunately knocking the ball on a metre short of the line. Bedwas were not to be denied though and on the next attack the home defence conceded a penalty try, with Langdon being despatched to the sin bin. Powell converted and Bedwas were back in the game.
Five minutes later Josh Walker found the space to gallop through for a try unopposed, touching down under the sticks to give Powell a simple shot at the extras. Bedwas supporters probably began to think that despite having played so poorly that their side could claim the spoils. With four minutes left they had a chance but Powell missed with his long range penalty shot and Neath breathed a huge sigh of relief and saw out the remainder of the game.
This Saturday, Bedwas take a break from league rugby as they host Pontypool in the Swalec Cup, kick off 2-30pm.
Pontypridd 14 Carmarthen Quins 6
Both teams found it hard to come to terms with the cloying conditions, but Ponty enjoying a greater share of early possession, and reaping their reward as outside half Simon Humberstone launched a penalty between the posts with four minutes gone. Having barely featured in the home half, Carmarthen struck back with a penalty of their own kicked by Craig Evans.
A break by winger Alex Webber gave Ponty some momentum upfield, but another Humberstone penalty attempt rebounding off a post. The game as yet had not sparked to life, but Ponty kicking for field position and maintaining pressure in their opponents’ territory. The muddy conditions as much as the referee’s whistle were dominant factors, with the visitors serially infringing and conceding points to a second Humberstone penalty, kicked with eighteen minutes gone.
The visitors’ attempts to drive into the home half were foiled by an aggressive Ponty defence and by their own infringements. Ponty in turn were guilty of yielding any initiative by losing their own line-out ball. The Quins finally were able to achieve some continuity, putting width on the ball with the home defence struggling to clear upfield. A series of charged down kicks, not straight throws and knock-on’s summed up what was so far an uninspiring encounter. It was inevitably another penalty kick that set the scoreboard back in motion, this time kicked by Quins outside half Craig Evans to level the scores 6pts apiece at the interval.
An early second half advance by the Quins was repelled, with their flanker Shaun Jones yellow carded for a late tackle. Ponty responded with a driving maul towards their opponents’ twenty-two, but the move ending with another knock-on. The home pack were now getting on top, making the most of their one man advantage with a series of strong scrums and striving to achieve some continuity, but all their efforts proving in vain.
A prolonged aerial kicking duel did little to enhance the quality of play, before a counter from deep instigated by winger Webber gave Ponty some momentum upfield. A Craig Evans penalty attempt from the half way fell just short of the target, both teams endeavouring to make their mark but unable to achieve a breakthrough. The game was still blighted by errors, reaching the sixty minute mark without yet coming to life.
A cautious advance by the Quins was repelled by a big Ponty scrum, the home side then edging into the lead through an angled penalty kicked by Simon Humberstone. A quick throw in gave Ponty further impetus upfield, a line out drive powering over the whitewash for no8 Dan Godfrey to claim a crucial try.
Both teams enjoyed periods of attack late in the game, the Quins countering at pace and Ponty kicking for position and hitting the gain line to advance. What had overall been a poor spectacle petered out into an extended period of stoppage time, Ponty having earned a valuable home win by 14-6.
