When the draw for the first round of the cup was made, little did the officials know that by the time the game was played, the two sides meeting in the sun at The Brian Jones Memorial Field would be top of their respective tables. A fine game was written in the runes.

WRU Division 3 Cup – Round 1

Report by Peter Weavers

The Black Army travelled northward, confident that they could roll over the green, white and blacks. Opening up a two-try lead did plenty to bolster the visitors’ confidence, but Joe Winfield and his band of brothers had other ideas, despatching a fine side with five second half five-pointers.

A large crowd feared for Gwernyfed’s home record when after only three minutes, Llantrisant crafted a fine move from a scrum 30 metres out with the left winger dotting down to end a move that screamed out skill and speed. Gwernyfed pressed for the equalising score, but while camped on the visitors’ line for 10 minutes were held out by stout defence.

When the siege was lifted after 20 minutes, the visitors made little headway until the right winger collected a clearance on his own 10-metre line to then scythe through the defence, before releasing 10 metres out to allow his inside centre a formality of a run in under the posts. The scoreboard rather chastened a crowd unused to seeing the green, white and blacks in arrears.

The answer was a return to attack and with Tom Lloyd stealing opposition line-outs, Gethin and Ryan Davies profited, making inroads but never quite getting to the try line. When moves stalled, Tom Griffiths delivered quick ball from the ruck and inevitably Llantrisant’s answer was to play on the gain line. That strategy has its merits - it also has its penalties - and Joe Winfield took advantage by potting two three-pointers to halve the arrears.

There was no doubting Llantrisant’s resilience and as half-time loomed a try looked hard to come by, a problem militated by a lovely drop goal from Winfield from 35 metres, allowing Gwernyfed to turn around with only three points between the sides.

If the first half had been chalk, the second was most definitely cheese. The early exchanges saw the visitors in staunch defensive mode, a posture only threatened when an extensive move back and for across the pitch yielded the try that broke the deadlock. Cellan Skyrme found Tom Millington in the line-out 30 metres out. Scrum half Griffiths released the backs, who almost completed the move in the left-hand corner, a Mathis Rolfe charge then allowing the ball to move back right. Winfield went wide and then cut back to find Gethin Davies, who carried men with him to the five-metre line. Will Eckley was quicker in thought and speed than the defence, picking up to drive over under the posts. A great try to which Winfield added the two-point icing.

Never one to be outdone, Ryan Davies delivered the next try in even more spectacular fashion, taking the ball from Gethin Davies on his own 22-metre line and proceeding to outpace the entire defence, touching down in the corner to the delight of the home supporters.

The Davies combination struck again after 65 minutes when Rhodri Williams fielded a long drop out deep into his own half and passed to Gethin Davies. The inevitable breach of the defensive line saw Davies making thirty metres and, when challenged, popping the ball up to Ryan Davies who taunted the defence with a swerving 30-metre run of his own before touching down.

Llantrisant did reply with a penalty but that score was more than neutralised when a sloppy drop out by the tiring visitors was fielded on the left and moved across to right wing Will Lloyd who looked favourite to score until stopped close in, the Clyro man having the presence of mind to offload to Rhodri Williams who needed no second invitation to score Gwernyfed’s fourth.

To their credit Llantrisant moved quickly in the hope of retrieving their position and scored a spectacular try from the halfway line. However, that work was undone when, from the restart, Gethin Davies tackled the ball receiver, dislodged the ball and followed though to hack on before touching down to allow skipper Winfield the easiest of kicks to bring the entertainment to an end.

Next weekend sees both Winfield’s side and Jamie Coles’s Athletic team travel to Machen to meet their respective league rivals. If this performance is anything to go by, the Caerphilly men will anticipate a tough game, though coaches Thomas, Phillips, Tomi and Matthew Lewis will be making certain that the Gwernyfed men take absolutely nothing for granted.