TITLE ON THE LINE

There is no let up for Cardigan as tomorrow the league championship will be on the line when they take on Division 3 West A leaders St Clears in what may turn out to be a winner takes all affair.

The Cardi’s who lost out to Amman United last weekend in the semi-final of the WRU Bowl face another cup final type of occasion and one that is far more important to coach Colin Horscroft as he has set his sights on gaining promotion.

Horscroft who has done an outstanding job at the King George since taking over two years ago said from day one that he wanted to be judged after two seasons in charge and win or lose tomorrow he will be judged as someone who has made a difference in several areas and who has brought some much needed pride and passion back into the jersey.

His team put a massive amount of effort into the semi last Saturday and the huge crowd that attended were disappointed to miss out on a cup final showdown at the Principality but they were nonetheless very proud of the commitment against a team that was generally far better on the day.

St Clears will not pose the same type of threat tomorrow as for one thing Shane Williams won’t be there to spoil the party but they will be very tough to beat as they are on a roll and confidence is high following eleven wins on the bounce. Their last league defeat was against Cardigan back in October. On that afternoon Cardigan finished the game with two men in the bin and one of the defining moments was when the saints scrum was sent reeling back over its own line for Town skipper and number eight Llyr Griffiths to claim the touchdown.

Horscroft has gone with the same front row once again and with the power of Gethin Jones and Dean Harries in the engine room and a very experienced back row in Colin Davies, Gareth Clifford and Grifftiths the Cardigan coach will be looking for something similar this time around.

Good news for the Cardi’s is that centre and arguably the player of the season Emyr Harries is back alongside Marcus Castle and this partnership has been very productive and this area will be crucial as the saints are also strong in midfield.

A big player for St Clears is former Whitland and Redruth centre Mike Gorgiou who has been very influential this term and he is a powerful runner. Gorgiou was red carded in both the last two league games and was due to appear at a WRU disciplinary panel. He takes the ball up aggressively and has formed a reliable partnership with Lee Glanville. The early tackles from Harries in particular should be worth the admission money alone.

Saints work a great deal off Gorgiou and have some excellent loose forwards to back him up in number eight Tom Rees and hooker Dafydd Page whilst scrum half Llyr Ebsworth is a livewire.

This is the final game of the season for coach Mike Jones and his St Clears side and if they win by more than seven points they are champions. If they win and Cardigan pick up a losing bonus point then the Cardi’s will have to win their three remaining games and pick up a bonus point in each one. However they face Milford away next up and that will be a tall order.

However if Horscroft and his men manage to win this one they will be in the box seat and it will set up a very exciting last few weeks for the Gollop Stand faithful as two of the three remaining games are at home to Pembroke and Pembroke Dock Quins.

St Clears have been at the top of the tree for many months and will be favourites to win tomorrow and put the title race to bed. However Cardigan are back to full strength and will be hurting after last weekend and expect a big response from them. It is going to be very physical and there won’t be much in it.