Gwernyfed battle past Barry to reach cup's next round

Whether it was the tail end of Storm Austen or the start of Storm Boelo, the heavy rain and wind certainly dictated that the visit of the seasiders to Talgarth would not lend itself to champagne rugby. Barry fielded a sizeable pack and the inevitable arm wrestle up front ensued, with Will Eckley’s green, white and blacks moving through to the next round of the cup courtesy of superior fitness that delivered two tries in the final quarter.

As has been the case so often in recent times, Gwernyfed started play on the front foot, a Lloydd Powell try putting them first on to the scoreboard within two minutes of the opening whistle. Charges by Eli Williams-Sweet and Geraint Powell took play from the ten-metre line to the 22 before Dylan Skyrme threatened the line wide out on the left. Scrum-half Luke Eckley switched the ball inside to Lloydd Powell, whose momentum and power took him over from ten metres out.

Barry are prominent in their own league and showed why when fighting back with a series of drives up the middle, forcing the defence to transgress and offering the visiting fly-half the opportunity to land a penalty from in front of the posts. Having reduced the arrears, the visitors proceeded to concede penalties in their own 22, Tyler Morris restoring the five-point lead with a three-pointer in the teeth of the gale. However, Barry persisted with the bludgeon up front and took the lead by way of a driving maul supported by the full pack and several backs, the conversion edging the visitors ahead.

Weather conditions dictated play at close quarters and, on the half hour, proximity proved to be the undoing of Barry when the number eight sought to get the advantage in a ruck by swinging a punch – immediately in front of the referee, who meted out immediate punishment in the form of a red card. With the manpower advantage, Gwernyfed struck back with their own direct approach, in which Tom Powell and Kelly Davies featured prominently in taking the green, white and blacks well inside the visitors’ 22. When charges from Tom Lloyd and Geraint Powell were stopped, scrum-half Luke Eckley feinted to pass right but dived over the whitewash for a real sniper’s try, which allowed Gwernyfed a 13-10 lead at the break.

Gwernyfed turned around to enjoy the wind at their backs and immediately extended the lead when a clearance kick was collected by an offside player, challenging Tyler Morris to convert the penalty from out wide in the gale, a feat executed with clinical precision.

Barry responded with a period of intense pressure, fuelled to an extent by a series of penalties conceded in defence. The drive was always the preferred means of offence and, though Eckley’s men battled away, inevitably the dam burst and the visitors ploughed over for two tries in a ten-minute period centred around the hour mark. Neither was converted, but it was vital that Gwernyfed returned to the offensive.

From the restart, the vociferous home support found plenty to cheer about. Morris’s restart was chased by Will Lloyd and Tom Millington, forcing the defence to lose the ball. The two swapped passes before the heavy men took over, skipper Eckley and Lloydd Powell going close. Tom Powell came even closer when touching down, only to be adjudged not to have grounded. No matter, the long drop-out was fielded on the halfway line by replacement scrum-half Aled Skyrme, who proceeded to dance through the defence without being touched, his joyous dive under the posts allowing Morris to add the two points.

Fitness was telling in Gwernyfed’s favour as the game ebbed away, the fresh legs of stand-in hooker Rhys Price almost going in from thirty metres. Aled Skyrme was at Price’s heels, collecting to release prop Tom Powell, who delivered a perfectly timed pass to centre Dylan Skyrme, who made no mistake. Tyler Morris’s conversion from out wide gave Gwernyfed a ten-point lead, which they would not relinquish.

That this game produced such a compelling spectacle was a tribute to the forty men who gave everything on an energy-sapping afternoon. League action returns next weekend, hopefully in more temperate weather, with a trip to old friends Nantyglo. However, with their game in the cup being called off, it may be that the cup game will take precedence and Gwernyfed will get a day off prior to the autumn international stand-down.