WRU CHAMPIONSHIP
Bedlinog 20 Newcastle Emlyn 24
Newcastle Emlyn secured one of their best away wins for many a day when they edged out a powerful Bedlinog side by four points to move them into a secure mid table place in the championship.
The red and whites suffered a blow at the start when prop Gethin Davies was forced to withdraw with a calf injury in the warm up but new signing Ceirion Evans, stepped in and showed what a useful asset he will be to the squad with a powerful scrummaging display.
the warm up
The visitors though found themselves nine points down after just twelve minutes as the home side opted to play with the breeze and slope and set up camp in the Emlyn twenty two and they were rewarded with three penalties which were slotted over by outside half Iain Smerdon
Emlyn hit back when an excellent throw by skipper Alex Williams was caught two handed by Ryan Morgans who delivered the ball to scrum half Mike Jones, which eventually found its way to powerful prop Emrys Davies who sent second row Ryan Morgans in for an excellent try, converted by Dan Davies.
. Things looked bleak for Emlyn half way through the half when inspirational number eight Brynmor Jones had to leave the field with a groin injury. This necessitated a shuffling around of the forwards with Ryan Morgans moving to flanker, Gareth Thomson to number eight and replacement Dan Havard coming in to the second row. Smerdon and Davies then exchanged penalty kicks and as the half hour approached Smerdon increased the home sides lead with his fifth penalty kick of the game.
From the restart Bedlinog knocked the ball on and Emlyn had a scrum on the ten metre line. From the scrum the backs executed a lovely three quarter movement and full back Shaun Leonard timed his entry into the line to burst through a gap and, with the cover coming across, he fed speedster Llyr Jones who crossed in the corner for an unconverted try to bring the scores level at half time.
With the breeze at their backs Emlyn made a very positive start to the second half but the very heavy pitch did not really suit the speedy Emlyn backline. Bedlinog also tightened up their defence, committing fewer men to the ruck as they realised the danger Emlyn posed behind.
Leonard was just wide with a long range penalty effort at the start of the half and a few minutes later Dan Davies gave Emlyn the lead for the first time with a relatively straightforward penalty for a deliberate knock on by the home team.
The hosts upped the tempo and the pressure eventually told and Ryan Morgans was sin binned for not releasing the ball at the tackle area. Bedlinog went for touch rather than kick the penalty goal, Emlyn defended the driving maul well and held up six consecutive drives for the line before the home side moved the ball wide for winger Garyn Payne to squeeze over in the corner to give them a two point lead.
The lead did not last long as from the kick off, the ball was knocked on and picked up by a home player standing in an off side position and Dan Davies slotted over another penalty to restore the lead to the red and whites.
The home pack were starting to visibly tire as they found great difficulty in making any sort of headway against the determined and disciplined Emlyn defence. When second row Bleddyn Davies went off injured it necessitated further juggling around of the Emlyn pack with props Neil Elworthy and Jack Parry coming on and Emrys Davies moving to the back row and Morgans reverting to the second row.
With the boot of Leonard at full back keeping Bedlinog pinned in their own half, the few Emlyn supporters who had made the long trip East began to hope that an unexpected win might be on the cards. Coach Lloyd replaced his half backs and Dafydd Evans and Dyfan Dafydd and this increased the pressure on the home defence. With Dafydd taking the ball very flat at outside half he was bringing runners on to the ball from all directions. The barn-storming runs of Joel James had caused problems all afternoon for Bedlinog and Alun Howells carried the ball up well.
However there was only one point in it, but with five minutes to go the mercurial Shaun Leonard, after a series of controlled Emlyn rucks, decided to drop a bit deeper and slotted over a thirty five metre drop goal to increase Emlyn’s lead.
From the restart, claimed by Emlyn, the ball was shunted downfield and a desperate home side tried running the ball back from near their own line. Emlyn’s kick chase was excellent and the home side could not get out of their own half. The last few minutes was a case of Bedlinog trying to drive up field but running into a brick wall of solid determined Emlyn defenders and the visitor hung on for a superb win.
