| Caerphilly 32 - Llantrisant
12 (Caerphilly 5 tries - Llantrisant 2 tries) |
| Welsh National League Division 1 East |
| Half-time score: Caerphilly 14 - Llantrisant 7 |
| Date: Saturday 1st September 2007 |
| Kick-off time: 2:30pm |
| Referee: Leighton Hodges (Bridgend) |
| Attendance: 350 |
| Llantrisant Website: - www.theblackarmy.co.uk/ |
| Weather: Dry & Cloudy |
| Caerphilly's Man-of-the-match: Rhys Watkins |
| Match Report by Mark Tamplin. Match pictures to follow |
Caerphilly continued their pre-season form with an excellent victory against recently promoted Division 2 Champions Llantrisant by 32 points to 12, at Virginia Park last Saturday. The visitors suffered the same fate as two of the other 3 sides that found themselves playing tougher rugby this season, with Rumney losing to Bargoed by 13 points to 20. In the west Chorus were defeated by Cwmllynfell, as Tonmawr completed an upset by defeating last years high flyers Bridgend Athletic. Llantrisant struggled to keep up with Caerphilly’s driving in the early quarter. Soaking up pressure on the left, the Castletown men came close in the opening 3 minutes, just falling shy of the line. From the resultant scrum, the ball was spun wide, wing Chris Thomas drew the defence releasing to Gareth Miles, returning to the club after a brief spell in Ebbw Vale, to cross the line unopposed. Up stepped the dependable Dean Watkins, to convert, giving the home side the upper hand with only 6 minutes on the clock. It wasn’t all plain sailing though, as sustained forward pressure produced a powerful reply, as Llantrisant gathered their own lineout ball to drive over the line. Hooker Gavin Grooves falling over the line to open up the visitors account at the end of the first quarter. Ian Worgan converted and the Black Army were level. On 32 minutes, Thomas burst through again, collecting the ball in his own half, it took a frantic tackle to bring him down centimetres from the try line. Recycling the ball, winger Steffan Sankala found himself in space on the right to put the home side ahead. Watkins converting, and 14-7 on the scoreboard. A mistake by Sankala on 32minutes, saw referee reaching for his card. As the ball broke loose from a chip ahead, Sankala was adjudged to have deliberately palmed the ball into touch, denying Llantrisant the chance to break for the line. Touch on the 5mtr line was found from the resultant penalty and Llantrisant were within grasping point of equalising. One of the missing factors of previous seasons at Virginia Park was the dis-functionality of the lineout, however it would appear that the Virginia Park coaches have recruited well during the summer, and the lineout provided a secure platform during this opening fixture. Indeed it was the good work of the jumpers that thwarted the Black Army on this occasion, climbing high and stealing the ball to clear the danger. Caerphilly started the second half quietly, indeed, loose tackling allowed No.6 Jamie Medlicott to break through and power through, from the half way line, to score, only 5 minutes into the second half. Sankala was given another opportunity on 11 minutes, as Thomas again burst though on the right, drawing 3 defenders, he released the ball in the tackle, and Sankala again crossed unopposed. Watkins converting, giving the home side a 19-12 advantage. Llantrisant lost number 8 Robert Davies on 22 minutes, persistent offending eventually leading to lass of patience by match referee Leighton Hodges. Watkins stepped up, and converted the penalty to go 10 points ahead. Caerphilly made widespread changes 25 minutes into the second half. It took just four minutes for the changes to take effect, as scrum half Rob Phillips burst through. Llantrisant ball broke loose as forward pressure on their scrum on the half way line produced an error. Phillips collecting, the defence were unable to match his pace as he crossed the line. Llantrisant found the going tough in the last quarter. 2 minutes from time, Caerphilly had been pressing the try line, as the ball broke loose from a 5mtr scrum. Llantrisant did well to collect the loose ball. Referee Hodges appeared to be playing advantage for a knock on, from the scrum, but as the ball found its way into the hands of replacement, Kevin Jenkins, he attempted to break loose. Stuck in his own in goal area surrounded by Caerphilly attackers he had nowhere to go. Gareth Miles ripped the ball out from his grasp and touched down to the rapturous applause of the home fans. The game finished 32 points to 12, with debutant Rhys Watkins claiming man of the match in a powerful forwards performance. A pleased coaching staff glad to come through unscathed. Head coach Gordon Pritchard was philosophical after the game as he said “The team still has far to go. It’s early days for a team that still need on field time to gel together” Caerphilly are home at Virginia Park again this weekend with a home tie against last seasons champions Beddau. Kick off 2.30pm |
| Caerphilly Team | Llantrisant Team | |
| Dean Watkins | 15 - Fullback | Thomas Botwood |
| Stefan Sankala | 14 - Right-wing | Craig Allen |
| Gareth Miles | 13 - Outside-centre | Huw Lougher |
| Lee Mullane | 12 - Inside-centre | Andrew Thomas |
| Chris Thomas | 11 - Left-wing | Rhys King |
| Rhys Edwards | 10 - Outside-half | Ian Worgan |
| Alun Ford | 9 - Scrum-half | Glenn Hollaway |
| Sam Feehan | 8 - Number 8 | Robert Davies |
| Rhys Watkins | 7 - Openside-flanker | Tom Lewis |
| John Griffiths (Captain) | 6 - Blindside-flanker | Jamie Medlicott |
| Chris Payne | 5 - Second-row | Jevon Grooves |
| Adam Minty | 4 - Second-row | Huw David |
| Matthew Griffiths | 3 - Tighthead-prop | Gavin Jones |
| Anthony Payne | 2 - Hooker | Gavin Grooves |
| Matthew Petit | 1 - Loosehead-prop | David Owen |
| Darren Sweet | Replacement | Vince Evans |
| Ceri Jones | Replacement | Dean Evans |
| Gareth Jones | Replacement | Mike Wilkins |
| Rob Phillips | Replacement | Jason Alford |
| Ian Carter | Replacement | Kevin Jenkins |
| Caerphilly Scorers | Llantrisant Scorers | |
| Stefan Sankala (32 &51 min), Gareth Miles (5 &78 min), Rob Phillips (69 min) | Tries | Gavin Grooves (10 Min), Jamie Medlicott (45 min) |
| Dean Watkins (2) | Conversions | Ian Worgan (11 min) |
| Dean Watkins | Penalties | - |
| - | Drop-goals | - |
| Stefan Sankala (32 min) | Yellow cards | Tom Lewis (63 min) |
| - | Red Cards | - |
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