By The Webmaster
January 18 2003
Neath's twice postponed Heineken Cup clash with Beziers was well worth the wait as the Welshmen just got the better of the French side in a thrilling encounter at the Gnoll.
Neath 23 Beziers 18 (sportinglife.com)
Neath's twice postponed Heineken Cup clash with Beziers was well worth the
wait as the Welshmen just got the better of the French side in a thrilling
encounter.
Beziers showed all their French during the closing stages as they looked for an all-important try but the Neath defence just about held out.
Early Neath dominance only reaped a penalty on 21 minutes by fly-half Lee Jarvis.
The home side paid for their inability to convert pressure into points as Beziers hit back with a sparkling try.
Captain Pierre Mignoni breached the Neath defence to send lock Karim Ghezal galloping over in the corner.
Argentinian Gonzalo Quesada converted superbly from the touchline before extending his side's lead with a penalty before Jarvis replied with a similar effort.
In injury time in the first half, Neath flanker Alfie Mocelutu scrambled over near the post for Jarvis to add the extra points.
Jarvis kicked his third penalty early in the second half but Beziers found the Neath slope to their liking.
Centre Jean-Marc Aue had too much pace for the covering defence as he broke a tackle to break clear for a fine try before scrum-half Mignoni gave his side the lead with a neat left-footed drop goal.
Neath regained the lead 10 minutes from time as the home side worked a superb overlap as right-winger Gareth Morris to race clear for Jarvis to convert from wide.
Neath travel to group leaders Leicester and Beziers take on Calvisano to complete the group this weekend.
Teams:
Neath: Durston, G. Morris, Storey, Tiueti, Marsden, Jarvis, A. Moore, D. Jones, B. Williams, A. Jones, A. Newman, G. Llewellyn, Mocelutu, Tandy, R. Phillips.
Not Used: A. Bateman, S. Connor, Mathews, L. Bateman.
Tries: G. Morris, A. Newman.
Cons: Jarvis 2.
Pens: Jarvis 3.
Beziers: Bonetti, Escalles, Aue, Grandclaude, Desjardin, Quesada, Mignoni, S. Chobet, Swarzewski, Bonorino, Ghezal, Nadiradze, Martinez, Gardiner, Gommard.
Not Used: Selua, Ratianidze, Koita, Mounier, Bousquet, Lafforgue, Laharague.
Tries: Aue, Ghezal.
Cons: Quesada.
Pens: Quesada.
Drop Goals: Mignoni
Att: 4,000
Ref: Roy Maybank (RFU).
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