Division 3C pilot scheme
Pantyffynon 10 Emlyn Dreigiau 28
The Newcastle Emlyn Dreigiau side travelled to Pantyffynnon for act three of their Division 3C pilot scheme on Saturday without talisman Aled Davies and club legend Dai Bryant but they still managed to come away with a win.
The experienced Dreigiau pair were forced to drop out to assist the firsts in the WRU Championship but the team were boosted by the return of centre Gethin Howells, after a year long stint in New Zealand.
A fantastic sunny autumn afternoon got off to the worst possible start for Emlyn as the host’s intercepted a pass and raced away under the posts for a try converted by local favourite Nick Jones.
The visitors responded well and their pressure paid off when scrum half Gwyndaf Davies wrestled his way through a pair of forwards on the fringe of the ruck and dived over under the posts for a try converted by Llew Morgan to level at 7-7.
A penalty following an infringement at a scrum saw the home side regain the lead just before the break to take the score to 10-7 at the interval.
The Dol Wiber youngsters moved up a gear in the second half and started to use their fast footed back line and the ever reliable combination of Llew Morgan and Curtis Bradford linked up from inside their own 22, with Morgan spreading the ball wide for Bradford who make a terrific outside break before being dragged down just short of the try line.
However the centre kept his composure and off loaded to Morgan who jogged over the line and converted his own try.
With their slender lead the Dreigiau looked to kill the game off and from turn over ball Bradford raced away and beat the cover defence to score a fine individual try to give his team some breathing space.
The visitors back line linked up once again late on following a powerful scrum and from a superb team move the ball was spun out to winger Ifan Davies who broke through and despite being dragged down managed to get an offload away to Dafydd James to score a superb try to round the game off.
An impressive second half performance and a well deserved 28-10 win.
Brandon Bradford