WRU Championship
Newcastle Emlyn 22 Dunvant 16
A powerful display by the Newcastle Emlyn pack, probably their best of the season, set up a well deserved win over Dunvant.
It was essential that the red and whites bounced back with a victory against one of the teams below them in the division, especially with some very tough matches looming and they took an early lead when prop Emrys Davies and skipper Alex Williams took the ball up and centre Shaun Leonard put in a cross kick for winger Dan Davies to win the race for a try.
Dunvant outside half James Davies replied with a long range effort to open their account before Dan Davies was successful with a penalty from in front of the posts and as a consequence Dunvant flanker Sam Tucker was sent to the sin-bin for slowing the ball down at the ruck.
Emlyn extended their lead a couple of minutes later when Shaun Leonard converted a penalty from the half way line but Emlyn’s one man advantage was short lived when second row Dan Havard was sent to the bin for a dangerous tackle.
As half time approached Leonard was just wide with another long range penalty effort but on the stroke of half time he did extend Emlyn’s lead with a three pointer after some excellent work by scrum half Dafydd Evans.
The visitors took the game to Emlyn from the restart but they defended resolutely with their midfield of outside half Barry Thomas and centres Alun Howells and Leonard, defended aggressively and managed to nullify the threat posed by strong running centre Sam Crowley.
Dunvant did though manage to cross the Emlyn line after 50 minutes when dangerous full back Adam Williams-Parry sped over and James Davies converted the try to bring Dunvant within a point.
From the restart the visitors struggled to get out of their twenty-two as Emlyn tackled and competed for the ball at the contact area and hooker Ceri Davies was caught with his boots in the wrong place and he was shown the red card.
Heavy rain poured incessantly for the remainder of the half and the red and whites played it tight and number eight Luke Kendall and skipper Alex Williams carried strongly and impressive scrum half Dafydd Evans controlled matters well and pinned Dunvant back in their half for long periods.
Without their regular hooker Dunvant struggled for possession as the Emlyn pack competed effectively at the line out with second rows Havard and Ryan Morgans cleaning up and this enabled the hosts to attack on the counter but the visiting defence held firm.
Dunvant fly half Davies brought his team back to within a point with fifteen minutes to go and this sparked coach Marc Lloyd into bringing his bench players on and the fresh legs brought even more impetus to Emlyn’s attacks.
The home pack responded to the driving runs of Kendall and the number eight showed what a quality player he is with some excellent all round play and he linked effectively with Evans at the base of the scrum. After another series of drives Dunvant just managed to clear their lines but from the lineout, replacement hooker Tom Curry found Morgans in the middle of the line and the Emlyn pack drove over for an unconverted try, claimed by Curry.
This was a game that the red and whites really had to win as they have two very difficult games coming up and to their credit they did it well with a much improved display all across the park.
Next up for Marc Lloyd is second placed side Tata Steel, followed by a home game against runaway leaders Pontypool.
Photos courtesy of Dunvant RFC.