By Mike Hill
October 13 2002

Friday night saw Tigers stage a second half revival to ensure a share of the points at a sodden, windswept Gnoll. The sides finished with 16 points and a single well worked try a piece which given the conditions was a fair return. Although Tigers led the game briefly as it entered injury time it was not to be and a late Jarvis penalty evened the scores.With a strong wind and lashing rain in their faces Tigers struggled to gain any control over the ball which resembled a bar of soap as it was continuously spilt and lost in the tackle.

It was Neath who took advantage early on with two Jarvis penalty goals setting up a 6-0 lead as first Darren was penalised for standing up in a scrum and then Leon made a late tackle.

Just after the half hour mark some Neath pressure resulted in Jarvis chipping over the flat Leicester defence for the impressive Tongan centre Dave Tiueti to dive on the ball unopposed. Jarvis converted to take Neath to 13 points while Stimpson managed two first half penalties to give Tigers 6 points at half time.

The rain eased for the second period and the drier conditions allowed Tigers to get a few phases of possession going and they started to dominate the territory and possession. The first half handling errors were 7 to Tigers against 2 to Neath and they had to be reduced after the break if Leicester were to prosper.

With the pack starting to get up a head of steam Neath were penalised and Stimmo added a penalty to make the score 13 -9. Two further penalties were awarded in quick succession for Neath not rolling away but Tim failed to convert either. Tom Tierney had been impressive all game displaying slick passing and sniping well around the fringes but his game ended with a stray hand swiping him off his feet and heralding the entrance of Jamie Hamilton.

The front row was changed as well with Frankie and Perry adding more spice to the forward exchanges. Tigers were gradually turning the screw when Stimpson fielded a long punt down field and surged back making 30 metres and setting up an eventual overlap on the right for Steve Booth. Neath defended well however and Booth cut back inside Corry and Tigers were penalised for crossing. Thus another attack withered and it looked increasingly likely that the Neath defence was going to win the day.

A bit of magic was required and the grand wizard Austin Healey once more delivered. Having looked fairly sprightly all night Oz set the dancing feet to work as he dummied Kafer and Leon before finding the gap and streaking through to score right in front of us. The small cluster of Tigers fans behind the posts went wild Stimmo converted and we were ahead for the first time at 16 - 13 with only injury time remaining.

That we didn't hold out for the win was annoying as Franck Tournaire was penalised for an unnecessary stamp as he struggled to free the ball from a ruck. Jarvis gratefully slotted the kick before Tim had one last chance to win it at the death with a drop goal. The ball was poorly struck, however and bounced under the posts to leave Neath with honours even.

This week's Tigers Man of the Match goes to Tom Tierney for his excellent passing and tackling in the first half when things weren't going our way. He showed a lot of passion and determination and is developing a good relationship with Austin. Healey was close to the award himself after that late try and his game steadily improved as time went on. Other notable performances were Gelderbloom strong as ever in defence and Nobby for a good all round performance despite the conditions making the lineouts a lottery.

Despite Healey's post match comments about this being a disappointing performance by the squad they won't be too unhappy about getting a point in Wales after the previous seasons failures in Llanelli and Pontypridd. So it's Calvisano up next at home with a big score required if Tigers are to make a strong challenge for home advantage in the quarter finals.

Tigers second half performance was much better than we've seen recently away from home and showed that they aren't giving up their trophy without a fight. Bring on the Italians.