Division 3 west A
Cardigan 13 St Clears 17
The recent progress made by Cardigan was further evident on Saturday as they were very unlucky not to beat second placed St Clears following an intriguing battle at the King George field.
With just two minutes left on the clock and the home side just four points in arrears and pushing hard for a try, replacement back rower Sean Owen made a dash for the line with the help of a few colleagues in the pack and he managed to get the ball down on to the edge of the whitewash for what should have been five points in the bag and a one point lead.
However the official in charge was about the only person not to see this and he awarded a scrum to Cardigan much to the obvious relief of the St Clears team and in particular their replacements standing behind the posts who had a clear view of the touchdown.
This young Cardigan outfit had experienced a battering in the corresponding fixture away and conceded over fifty points but they have made big strides in recent months and came into this match on the back of four wins and they were much improved.
It was the hosts who scored first when full back Llyr Jones who enjoyed another fine game slotted over a penalty but the Saints came back strongly and were camped in the home twenty two area and they were awarded a penalty try following two Cardigan infringements in short succession near their own try line.
Cardigan hit back with a superb try from outside centre Rhun Phillips following a break from the half way line and this was converted by Jones to make the score 13-7 to the home team before St Clears stand off Dan Griffiths slotted over a penalty with the last kick of the half.
The hosts got off to a dreadful start in the second half when centre Aaron Tomkinson was yellow carded for a reckless tackle off the ball but his team mates hung on under huge pressure from the visitors who butchered several opportunities to score and a second yellow card arrived fifteen minutes later when flanker Osian Rees was binned but the Cardi’s dug deep and looked to have weathered the storm despite the one man disadvantage.
However they were turned over at a scrum with just four minutes to go and the ball was spread down the blind alley and second row Rhodri Thomas crossed in the corner and Griffiths duly obliged with a superb conversion to put his team four points ahead.
This was a cruel blow to the Cardi’s but the division high fliers had been camped in the Cardigan twenty two for a long period and it always seemed likely that they would eventually score.
Cardigan came back strongly with fly half Iwan John chipping into the corner and his forwards turning over the ball and the visitors were forced to tackle ferociously to keep out skipper Tom Taylor, tight head Andrew Fletcher and flanker Sion Owens on the charge.
Owens looked to have scored when he barged his way over but this was unseen by the referee and from the resulting scrum the ball was lost in contact and the final whistle was sounded soon afterwards with St Clears having used up their get out of jail card for this season.
A disappointing result for Tudor Harries and his side but he will not lose any sleep over this defeat as there was far more satisfaction with the overall performance and commitment in defence.
Outstanding once again was number eight and skipper Tom Taylor, whilst young lock Kester Adams showed a great deal of promise alongside hard working stalwart Dyfed Symmons. In the centre Tomkinson and Phillips looked threatening in attack and full back Jones was very solid in defence and was always looking to counter.
Next up for Cardigan is a home clash with Llanybydder this weekend.
