WRU Championship
Newbridge 5 Newcastle Emlyn 27
Newcastle Emlyn secured arguably their most important win of the season when they defeated division strugglers Newbridge to move up the table and well out of the relegation zone.
This bonus point success made up for the huge disappointment of last week’s injury time defeat at the hands of Beddau and coach Marc Lloyd and his men can now consolidate their championship position with confidence.
Emlyn dominated the game up front and in the second half played the sort of the game traditionally associated with Gwent Valley’s sides, keeping it tight with the forwards carrying the ball effectively from the base of the ruck. The play of the forwards was something to admire with captain Alex Williams leading by example with some storming runs down the middle, closely followed by powerful flanker Joel James.
It was the home side that started off positively, looking to make light of the heavy conditions and running the ball from all parts of the field. With two quality centres in Scott Williams and Jordan Howells they posed the Emlyn defence a few problems in the opening few minutes. Fortunately for the red and whites centres Tomi Jones and Rhys Williams were rock solid in defence and quick to pounce on any mistake made by the home side. Emlyn maintained pressure and Newbridge conceded a penalty which winger Dan Davies converted to open the scoring.
A series of drives from a line out by the hosts number eight was eventually halted by Emlyn who stole the ball. Unfortunately the visitors clearance kick was partially charged down and the ball fell into the hands of right wing James Beighton who crossed in the corner for a try.
As the end of the half approached the red and whites put together a series of attacks with Williams and James leading the way. Newbridge’s defence was solid and eventually Emlyn were awarded a penalty kick just inside the home half. Shaun Leonard’s attempt just went wide of the posts but the home team made a complete hash of the clearance kick and some quick accurate handling by the Emlyn side saw the ball passed out to the left wing. Loitering on the wing was the visitors number eight Brynmor Jones and he ran powerfully for the corner before passing inside to the supporting Tom Powell who crossed for an excellent try, converted by Dan Davies to bring the half to the end.
The forwards responded in the best possible fashion after the interval team talk and time and again the ball was taken deep into the Newbridge half and the home side were forced to defend desperately. Psychologically it was important that Emlyn score first, and their second try came in the sixth minute of the half. From a series of rucks it was second row Gareth Bennet who forced his way over for Emlyn’s second try. The veteran second row, on permit from Whitland, had a really good match and was a powerful influence in the close quarter forward work.
The second half followed a rather predictable pattern with Newbridge finding themselves under a great deal of pressure every time they had the ball and eventually the visitors added a third try when, from a line out in the home twenty two, a great two handed catch by Dan Havard saw the red and whites go through a series of rucks. Some ten metres from the line the ball was transferred to outside half Mitchell Jones who cleverly put a kick in behind the advancing Newbridge defenders and full back Shaun Leonard won the race for the touchdown for Emlyn’s third try.
To their credit the Gwent side came back from the restart and a series of attacks resulting in them being awarded a penalty. They kicked to the corner and went for a catch and drive only to be held up short by Emlyn. From the resulting scrum the visitors opted to run it out and number eight Jones fed winger Thomas who made some fifty metres before number eight Jones linked nicely with his scrum half Mike Jones who forced his way over for a try. Full back Shaun Leonard converted to bring Emlyn the all-important bonus point.
This was an excellent win for the red and whites when one considers that there were sixteen players unavailable, mainly due to injury, for selection for this match. A big bonus for Emlyn was the return to action of second row Dyfed Morgan making his first appearance of the season after recovering from a shoulder injury.
This weekend Glynneath are the visitors to Dol Wiber, a side Emlyn have yet to defeat in the Championship.
