WRU CHAMPIONSHIP
Newcastle Emlyn 15 Beddau 20
For the second time in just a few weeks at Ddol Wiber, Newcastle Emlyn were undone by a try scored in the dying minutes to leave both players and supporters distraught.
It happened against Glamorgan Wanderers in December with the red and whites 7-6 up going into injury time but a converted try cruelly denied them and the same thing occurred on the weekend when Beddau centre Tyler Wells crossed under the posts for a try with Emlyn leading with four minutes of injury time already gone.
With time seemingly out and Emlyn down to thirteen men, Beddau centre Wells sneaked over the white wash to give the visitors the lead for the first time in the match. When outside half Hywel Chatham added the extra points the final whistle was blown by referee Peter Evans to bring to an end a pulsating match which literally was a game of two halves.
The first half belonged to the red and whites who dominated proceedings and led by fifteen points to nil at the interval and on another day it could have been a lot more. To their credit the visitors clawed their way back into the game and ended up placing the home forwards under a great deal of pressure especially at scrum time.
Mindful of the hammering they had had up in Beddau at the start of the season, for once Emlyn came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders. Their scrum was dominant with props Emrys and Gethin Davies along with stand in hooker Neil Elworthy having excellent first halves. Elworthy had a fine all round game carrying the ball well on a number of occasions. It was initially from a scrum that Emlyn opened the scoring, when number eight Brynmor Jones picked up from the base on Beddau’s ten metre line, and some nice inter-passing between himself, flanker Gethin Davies and scrum half Dafydd Evans saw the scrum half cross in the corner for the first try of the match.
The Emlyn centres, Richard Hope and Tomi Jones, put in some thunderous tackles on their opponents every time Beddau tried moving the ball and using their speedy backs. The red and whites nearly added to their score when from a line out on the visitors ten metre a loose ball was picked up by Joel James who burst through a couple of would be tacklers only to be brought down some five metres from the line. Emlyn were awarded a penalty kick and acting captain, Emrys Davies, opted for a scrum instead of the kick at goal and an almost certain three points. Beddau managed to turn the scrum as Emlyn drove for the line forcing Jones to pick up at number eight.
Two rucks later Beddau flanker Jordan Goodwin was yellow carded for stamping all over the legs of an Emlyn player. Davies again declined the three points opting for another scrum. Again Beddau managed to wheel the scrum and disrupt the Emlyn drive and from the resultant play Emlyn knocked on and Beddau were able to clear their lines.
With second rows Ryan Morgans and Dan Havard winning useful line out ball Emlyn were able to stay camped in the Beddau half, but found the visitors defence difficult to breach. They did extend their lead in the thirty fifth minute when Jones stole a ball from a line out on the visitors ten metre line. Brought down some ten metres short of the line Beddau managed to steal the ball and attempted to clear their line. The clearance kick fell into the arms of winger Dan Davies, he fed full back Shaun Leonard who spotted a gap in the defence and glided through it, drew the full back and passed back to Davies for the winger to score a try which he also converted.
Almost from the restart another dropped pass by Beddau was pounced on by Emlyn hooker Elworthy who stormed through some would be tacklers, linked with hard working flanker Gethin Davies, who had an excellent match until he suffered another dislocation to his shoulder, he in turn tried to pass to Joel James but the pass was low and the flanker knocked on. From the resultant scrum, scrumhalf Dafydd Evans harried his opposite number into making a poor pass, centre Richard Hope was quickly up on Beddau and forced them to concede a penalty for not releasing the ball after a tackle. This time Davies did opt for the kick at goal and Dan Davies converted the penalty kick to give Emlyn a deserved half time lead.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with the difference being it was the visitors who dominated proceedings. After two minutes Emlyn were forced back to near their own line when their backs were penalised for off side. As per the first half Emlyn, led by Joel James managed to stop the catch and drive but the visitors prop Stephens decided to take the law into his own hands and went for James causing a massive punch up. When things calmed down referee Evans yellow carded the prop and James and awarded Beddau a penalty which Hywel Chatham converted to open their scoring.
Beddau’s first try of the game came after some fifteen minutes and was nothing if not controversial. Their excellent full back Callum Wheeler made a lovely break from a line out move and scythed through the hosts defence to feed winger Joe Casella. Desperate Emlyn defence got across and looked to have tackled the winger into touch just before he grounded the ball, and the touch judge raised his flag. Referee Evans ruled that Casella was not in touch and awarded Beddau a try.
As the game moved into its final quarter injuries began to play their part in the proceedings. Centre Richard Hope had to leave the field resulting in a reshuffle of the Emlyn back line with Llyr Jones moving to outside centre, scrum half Dafydd Evans to wing and Mike Jones coming on to play scrum half. Captain Emrys Davies and fellow prop Gethin Davies had to leave the field with leg injuries, and flanker Davies was replaced by Gareth Patterson.
Approaching the half hour mark it was Beddau who fell foul of the referee when from a seemingly innocuous ruck on the half way line he decided that the Beddau full back had entered from the wrong side and yellow carded Wheeler.
With just a few minutes to go the visitors were awarded a penalty on the Emlyn ten metre line. Replacement scrum half David Francis took a quick tap penalty and ran at the home defenders who sensibly ran back with him allowing him to go ten metres. The scrum half then ran into Emlyn flanker Gareth Patterson and referee Evans ruled the flanker had prevented him going the ten metres and yellow carded him.
With Emlyn down to fourteen men, Beddau kicked for the corner and finally manged to get a drive going in which the backs joined in and eventually were awarded the try scored by winger Cody Baker, surprisingly Chatham missed the conversion. With time running out the Emlyn faithful were hoping against hope that their side would be able to hold out for a win. However when another Beddau attack floundered against some determined Emlyn defence referee Evans ruled that Llyr Jones had strayed off side at a ruck and yellow carded him. Against a side of Beddau’s quality, to defend such a small lead was a big ask for any side and despite the injuries Emlyn had suffered the players concerned had left the field almost immediately, thus the addition of six minutes to the half was mystifying. However that was what happened and centre Tyler Wells scythed through to get the winning score for the visitors.
This was a much improved Emlyn performance and gave the coaching team a number of positives to work on. One can only hope that the injuries to certain players are not serious and that they will be available for next week’s important trip to Newbridge followed by the home game against Glynneath.
