| Caerphilly 24 - Rumney
15 (Caerphilly 2 tries - Rumney 3 tries) |
| Welsh National League Division 1 East |
| Half-time score: Caerphilly 13 - Rumney 10 |
| Date: Saturday 1st March 2008 |
| Kick-off time: 2:30pm |
| Referee: John L. Roberts (Llanrwst) |
| Attendance: 300 (according to Simon) |
| Rumney Website: - http://www.rumneyrfc.co.uk/ |
| Weather: Dry with strong winds |
| Match Report by MarkTamplin |
| “ That was the closest I’ve seen us come to defeat for
some time” were the words of Caerphilly’s director of rugby
Gordon Pritchard, as he and new coach Matthew Back watched their Caerphilly
team keep their title aspirations afloat at Virginia Park last Saturday. Plagued by the news that scrum half Rob Phillips wouldn’t play again this season after suffering a fractured cheek bone during their bruising encounter with Pontypool last Friday, the home side went behind with only two minutes on the clock, as Rumney’s hooker Mike Fennek crossed for their opener. Ten minutes later, Caerphilly broke out, flanker Sam Feehan making hard yards up to the Rumney 5mtr line, gaining an attacking scrum. No. 8 Stephan Edwards broke from the base, laying off to openside flanker Rhys Edwards who was bundled over the try line by his supporting pack. Dean Watkins stepped up to add the first two points of his 14 point haul to give the home side the lead. Caerphilly won a series of penalties, taking play up to the 5mtr line on 20 minutes, and were unlucky not to go further ahead as strong tackling by the visitors forced a knock on. The same happened two minutes later as the home side pressed again only to spill the ball in midfield. Persistent infringing by the visitors saw Rumney’s centre Paul Collett sin binned as he killed the ball on the 5mtr line during another strong Caerphilly attack, Watkins stepping up to add the three points. Guilty of holding the ball on the floor from the restart, Rumney were awarded an opportunity the negate the earlier penalty, the ball just sailing to the left of the posts as both kickers battled the strong crosswind. Rumney didn’t have to wait long, however, as another Caerphilly attack broke down in the visitors 22. Rumney’s outside half Andrew Carlson threaded his way through the Caerphilly defence offloading to winger Lincoln Plummer. Juggling the ball Plummer just held on to the ball powerfully sprinting into the corner for a try. Another Caerphilly attack on 38 minutes yielded 3 points, illeagally breaking down in the visitors 22, handing the home side a 13-10 point lead at the half way mark. A series of Watkins penalties early in the second half second half put the home side 9 points ahead with just 50 minutes on the clock. Rumney missed the chance to claw back the lead to one score, as Caerphilly were guilty of playing the ball on the floor just outside their 22, the kick going just wide in the swirling wind on 55 minutes. Three minutes later, the home side pinched the ball, Rhys Watkins bravely diving on it as the ball broke loose from a Rumney scrum, building a platform for another onlsought into Rumney territory. Playing with a slight wind advantage in the second half, the visitors started playing the percentage game, pinning the home side into their own half, attacking the defence then running at the Castletown side. During one of these attacks, Caerphilly’s winger Steffan Sankala appeared to have anticipated a pass out wide in front of his own goal. Getting both hands to the ball, but spilling it, referee John Roberts of Llantrwst, adjudged Sankala to have come from an offside position, killing the attack, and decided it was worthy of a yellow card. Taking a scrum, the visitors exploited the gap left by the departed wing, moved the ball to the right , full back Tom Daly coming into the line from deep, creating the extra man and crossing in the corner for an unconverted try. Rumney upped the anti in a desperate bid to achieve victory and mounted a wave of attacks on the Caerphilly goal line. Only stout defence keeping them at bay. Indeed Rumney should have gone ahead on 35 minutes. A Caerphilly attack breaking down in the visitors 22, gave them chance to counter attack, the ball passing through the back line into the hands of speedy winger Lewis Fox. Sprinting at replacement full back Nathan (Charlie) Gittings, Fox deftly sidestepped Gittings, and with the try line at his beck and call, Fox managed to spill the ball as he briefly lost his balance, opportunity passed. Caerphilly made the visitors pay, as with previous encounters this season. Playing good and badly in phases, which has become the castletown sides forte this season, the home side brought play straight back into the visitors 22, mounting extreme pressure on the try line. A 5mtr scrum nearly yielded its reward, referee unsighted as the pack drove the ball over the line. From the 5mtr re-scrum, another powerful drive from the pack saw the ball held just short of the line, Steffan Edwards picking up the ball, prop Matthew Petit in toe, to cross the try line and punish the visitors, killing any chance of even a losing bonus point to clinch the match 24 point to 15. Caerphilly’s next match is a re-arranged fixture against Llantrisant slated for the morning of a possible Welsh Grand Slam attempt against the French on March 15th, at Llantrisant. Kick off to be determined (1:30pm expected) |
| Caerphilly Team | Rumney Team | |
| Huw Locke | 15 - Fullback | T. Daly |
| Chris Thomas | 14 - Right-wing | L. Fox |
| Ian Carter | 13 - Outside-centre | G. Bowen |
| Lee Mullane | 12 - Inside-centre | P. Collett |
| Steffan Sankala | 11 - Left-wing | L. Plummer |
| Dean Watkins | 10 - Outside-half | A. Carlson |
| Alun Ford | 9 - Scrum-half | C. Milton |
| Stephan Edwards | 8 - Number 8 | D. Rees |
| Rhys Watkins | 7 - Openside-flanker | R. Sutton |
| Sam Feehan | 6 - Blindside-flanker | A. Wilson |
| Chris Payne | 5 - Second-row | M. Peard |
| Adam Minty | 4 - Second-row | P. Bull |
| Matthew Petit | 3 - Tighthead-prop | C. Fitzpatrick |
| Anthony Payne | 2 - Hooker | M. Fennick (c) |
| Matthew Griffiths | 1 - Loosehead-prop | J. Leadbetter |
| Gareth Jones | Replacement | A. Leech |
| Anthony Meads | Replacement | N. Ritchie |
| Celyn Ashton | Replacement | B. James |
| Nathan Gittings | Replacement | C. Miller |
| Lee Pearce | Replacement | C. Gale |
| Caerphilly Scorers | Rumney Scorers | |
| Rhys Watkins (10 min), Steffan Edwards (79 min) | Tries | Mike Fenneck (2 min), Lincoln Plummer (35 min), Tom Daly (64 min) |
| Dean Watkins (11 min) | Conversions | - |
| Dean Watkins (29, 38, 48 & 50 min) | Penalties | - |
| - | Drop-goals | - |
| - | Yellow cards | P.Collett (29 min) |
| - | Red Cards | - |
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