WRU Championship
Cardiff Met 32 Newcastle Emlyn 34
Newcastle Emlyn outside half Barry Thomas scored a dramatic penalty in the dying minutes of this absorbing game to seal a superb win for Newcastle Emlyn to send them up the table and into a position of safety.
With just a few minutes of this topsy turvy match, veteran stand off Thomas, who had taken over the kicking duties from injured full back Dan Davies drew on all his years of experience to calmly slot the ball between the sticks and send the Emlyn supporters home happy.
The red and whites made the long journey without a number of key players including quicksilver scrum half Mike Jones and full back Sean Leonard who were both at the Dubai sevens but they welcomed back powerful prop Gethin Davies following injury, and they made a dream start, as within seconds of the kick off second row Dan Havard found himself in possession and sprinted 30 metres to score the first try which was converted by Dan Davies, playing in the unfamiliar position of full back.
There were some very positive signs early on for Emlyn in the scrum as they went about disrupting the home set piece and the Archers were put under pressure with the Red and Whites winning a couple against the head.
Cardiff Met tried to get their passing game going and when the hard running outside centre Luke Northmore was tackled near the Emlyn ten metre line referee Paul Jones spotted a player off side and outside half, Alex Seers stepped forward and secured the three points.
At the restart the game continued to go Emlyn’s way with the hosts failing to gather and knocking on from the resulting scrum, powerful number 8 Brynmor Jones picked up and ran 20 metres to score his team’s second try under the posts, converted by Dan Davies.
Further joy was to follow when from a lineout on the Met’s 10 metre line, the ball was won cleanly and scrum half Dafydd Evans made a long pass to outside half Barry Thomas and he put up a perfectly weighted high ball for right wing Llŷr Jones to catch and canter in to score in the corner.
Unlucky prop Gethin Davies suffered yet another injury and after he left the field the dynamic in the scrum changed with the Archer’s able to win some clean ball and go through the phases. One of these attacks saw outside half Seers throw a high looping missed pass to hard running flanker Alex Dombrandt, full back Davies was no match for the huge forward and he barged through to score the Archer’s first try, converted by outside half Seers. At 10-21 Cardiff Met were back in the game.
This first try gave the Archers added confidence and they continued to attack with ball in hand but the Emlyn forwards worked hard in defence, none more so than flanker Joel James who disrupted the Cardiff Met possession at every opportunity. This eventually resulted in a penalty for holding which was kicked by full back Davies to open the points gap again.
Having had the better of the second quarter Cardiff Met continued to stick to their game plan, going through the phases and then moving the ball quickly through the hands. They were eventually rewarded when centre Luke Northmore broke through to score with the conversion from the reliable boot of Seers to put his team much closer at 17-24.
The Archers belief continued to grow as they became more dominant and they again ran at the Emlyn defence from the restart and some fast and accurate passing saw the ball quickly recycled creating another gap, this time for left wing Ashley Taylor who scored an unconverted try to take the score to 22-24.
The Red and Whites would have been relieved to hear the half time whistle and as the teams changed ends so changed their relative fortunes, Cardiff Met with the wind in their sails and Emlyn desperately trying to hang on to their coat tails and get something from the game.
At the start of the second half the hosts continued where they had left of and this sparked off some changes within the Emlyn ranks with prop Emrys Davies replacing Jack Parry, Bleddyn Davies coming on in the second row for Dylan Davies and Tomi Jones taking over the right wing with Llŷr Jones going to full back. The omens were not good as Cardiff Met continued to press forward and from a penalty they again moved the ball quickly through the hands creating a gap for scrum half James Hall to score the bonus point try and take the Archers into the lead.
As the floodlights were switched on, the gathering gloom of the Cardiff evening reflected the mood of the small band of supporters who had made the long journey up the M4. What had been a really positive first quarter was turning into a fight to get at least a point from the game.
The red and whites played it much tighter as the game with their forwards outstanding and they started to carry the ball up the field and were soon rewarded for their change of game plan when from a line out catch the forwards drove a rolling maul which drew in more and more defenders and the ball was released to Llŷr Jones who sprinted down the undefended touchline for an unexpected bonus point try.
With no regular kicker on the field Barry Thomas confidently stepped forward and bisected the posts as if he had been kicking them over all afternoon to put his team back in the lead at 31-29. Cardiff Met though were in no mood to give up and had already come from behind once and Met outside half Seers kicked the Archers back into the lead with a penalty following a period of pressure.
With just a few minutes left on the clock Newcastle Emlyn pushed hard for a score to win the game forcing the hosts to defend vigorously and a tip tackle on prop Emrys Davies provided outside half Thomas with a chance to seal a victory for his team and the seasoned campaigner stepped up and calmly claimed the three points to secure a bonus point win for his team and one which had looked very unlikely mid-way through the second half
