WRU DIVISION 3 EAST CENTRAL A

THE Cardiff visitors have enjoyed a good season to date, lying third in the league, but they did not relish taking on the green, white and blacks on their own patch and with the hosts confident on the back of a six-game unbeaten run. In fact, the travellers opened up a thirteen point lead within half an hour and must have felt that the game was theirs only to be faced with a determined fight back by Gwernyfed to the point where after eighty minutes a home win was almost inevitable.

A number of absences saw Ian Powell come in at hooker and Andrew Griffiths slot into the back row. Both played with distinction but couldn’t prevent visiting hooker Greenfield, unusually the place kicker, taking two three pointers before converting Ryan Evans’s try that came from a rolling maul.

When Griffiths sustained what looked to be a nasty rib injury the prodigal Izaak Duffy, returning from the thirteen-man game to his alumni, moved from centre to number eight, Haydn Murphy coming on after a lengthy injury lay-off. The change reaped immediate dividends when the robust Duffy picked up at the base of the scrum and took several defenders with him before being brought down ten metres short. The Llangorse product popped the ball up in the tackle to find evergreen Gareth Dodd coming at pace. There was plenty of work to do but Dodd wound his way through the defence, stretching for the line to allow Gerwyn Williams a formality of a conversion.

With the wind in their faces Gwernyfed had plenty of defending to do but were bolstered by a fine performance by full back Williams who fielded high balls all afternoon without fear or falter. Notwithstanding this, Greenfield slotted another penalty before the break and home coaches Billen and Skyrme needed to muster the troops if the unbeaten run wasn’t to end.

The home support need not have worried. An excellent second half effort, underpinned by lengthy and accurate kicking by Dodd and scrum half Cooke, saw Gwernyfed pressing for a four-try bonus point, the initiative primed by a Craig Fuller try and Williams conversion following an impressive maul, a move that Fairwater struggled to counter all afternoon.

Several near misses frustrated the crowd but when Fairwater transgressed near their own line, skipper Sam Stephens called for a scrum and Duffy rewarded the brave decision by powering his way over to offer the Talgarth men the lead for the first time with ten minutes to go. The lead was enhanced by an excellent conversion by Williams.

Fairwater had one rally left in them but in spite of intense pressure the home defence held firm and when an isolated runner held on, Dodd put the resultant penalty way down the field. It was now a case of looking for the fourth try but to the visitors’ credit they defended manfully and allowed just one further chance, Dodd popping a drop goal over to seal victory and deny the Cardiff men a losing bonus.

Gareth Dodd has become something of an institution in local rugby circles and showed once again that, even though the seasons inevitably roll on, he is one of the most reliable and influential players seen in the Black Mountains/Brecon Beacons over the last two decades.

¦ Courtesy of Gwernyfed High School, Carwyn Phillips’ table-topping Youth XV, made the most of an excellent surface at the School, beating Treharris 42-0. A brace of tries from Gethin Williams was matched by a pair from Geraint Powell (one of which Powell claims was from a full fifty metres!) and scores from Levi Rodell and Oscar Lennon.

¦ Rosie Jones’ Ladies XV completed a hat-trick of weekend wins for the green, white and blacks by beating Seven Sisters 22-19 in a very competitive WRU Premiership game. Excellent tries built upon sound rucking and mauling and quick hands in the backs were scored by Talgarth speedster Caitlin Pugh and Megan Snape. Snape added a second to secure the bonus point and to compliment her sister, Lily, who had opened the scoring. A really good advert for ladies’ rugby and an entertaining Sunday afternoon capped a successful weekend for Gwernyfed.