WRU Championship
Tata Steel 52 Newcastle Emlyn 29
Newcastle Emlyn were defeated by division high fliers Tata Steel but they neverthless turned in their best away performance of the season at Tata Steel and picked up a bonus point for scoring four excellent tries.
On another day and with a little bit of luck they could have ended up scoring eight tries in a performance which summed up the inconsistencies which have plagued them this season.
On occasions the red and whites were quite brilliant in attack but on occasions in defence they were not so sharp and conceding some soft tries.
Two of these came in the first fifteen minutes with the first one to Tata Steel’s outside half Liam Popham who just brushed past a few tacklers to score under the posts for a try converted by scrum half Rhodri Cole.
The second followed shortly after, when poor tackling allowed Tata to set up a ruck in the Emlyn twenty two and scrum half Cole cleverly used the referee as a shield to dart through a gap to score a try he converted himself.
However Emlyn did manage to tighten up their game and their gain line defence, led by outside half Dyfan Dafydd, was very positive and aggressive in cutting down the time and space. Dafydd in fact was a big plus point for Emlyn and his ability to take the ball flat and get his backs running on to the ball at speed was excellent.
Gradually Emlyn worked their way back into the game and after a series of rucks Tata were penalised just inside their half but Leonard’s long range effort was just wide of the mark. Two minutes later he had another chance much closer to the posts and he made no mistake to open the scoring for the visitors.
If anything this seemed to galvanise the home side and with the powerful running of flanker Scott Malone and number eight Mathew Llewelyn causing Emlyn no end of problems the home side quickly set up camp in the Emlyn twenty two. There was a certain inevitability about the next try with the home side, when awarded a penalty, opting for the kick to touch and drive from the ensuing line out. Emlyn did manage to repel a couple of drives but eventually Tata got everything right and hooker Dan Vella was accredited with the try converted by Cole.
Their fourth bonus point try followed soon after when scrum half Cole darted over.
Emlyn though showed some real grit and determination and with Dyfan Dafydd making excellent use of whatever Emlyn possession they managed to obtain, the red and whites gradually worked their way downfield. For once it was Tata’s defence that began to look brittle as Dafydd and centres Alun Howells and Rhys Schiavone ran at them.
From a series of rucks in Tata’s twenty two, scrum half Dafydd Evans broke on the blind side and reverse passed behind him to the ever supporting prop Emrys Davies who galloped over under the posts and Leonard added the extra points.
Emlyn dominated the start of the second half and looked to have scored a try through winger Dan Davies after just two minutes, but referee Kibble ruled the final pass forward. Both sides were running the ball from all parts of the field and the second half was played at an exhilarating pace.
But it was the home side who eventually scored next after some twenty minutes when they declined a penalty kick at goal, opted for the kick to touch, line out and from the resultant catch and drive captain and flanker David Griggs was awarded an unconverted try. Disaster struck Emlyn from the restart when they won the ball from the kick off but then lost it at a ruck in the Tata twenty two. Showing great adventure Tata attacked and some excellent support play eventually led to impressive flanker Scott Malone crossing for a try converted by Lewis Evans.
The introduction from the bench of Mike Jones, Alex Williams, Jack Parry and Bleddyn Davies brought fresh legs to the Emlyn performance and the extra pace of Jones at scrum half began to pose problems for Tata. A break by number eight Brynmor Jones took play deep into Tata’s twenty two and his potentially scoring pass to flanker James was rather cynically stopped by a Tata player pulling the flanker back from behind. From the resultant penalty Emlyn worked a nice wrap around move for Mike Jones to cross for a try converted by Leonard.
Tata added two more tries before the red and whites scored again. Their tries coming from winger Jordan Skidmore and a length of the field move started and finished by Popham, now playing at full back, converted by Lewis Evans.
To their credit Emlyn continued to run the ball at the home side and with five minutes to go scored their third try when from another movement, begun again by second row Ryan Morgans, the ball eventually reached right winger Llyr Davies who crossed in the corner for an unconverted try.
The bonus point try arrived late on when Mike Jones took a quick tap penalty five metres out only to be tackled before he had gone more than a metre and referee Kibble’s patience was exhausted and he awarded Emlyn a penalty try which Leonard converted and the game was over.
