By Zippy
January 22 2007

A review of the action in the Principality Welsh Premiership from Saturday 20th January. Bridgend fought bravely before losing again at the Gnoll to Neath. Ponty were disappointed to lose ground on Ebbw Vale by drawing at Bedwas.

Neath 27 Bridgend 17

The Western Mail

SLOWLY, but surely, champions Neath are beginning to re-enter the race for a third successive title, writes Tony Poole.

Their chance seemed to have gone after losing 31-11 at Llanelli before Christmas, but coaches Rowland Phillips and Gruff Rees deserve credit for turning things around.

That theme ran through this victory over Bridgend, who seemed on course for a first win at the ground in 25 years when leading 17-0 in the 38th minute.

But the Blacks didn't press the panic button and, with the wind on their backs during the second period, the Ravens had their wings clipped.

Once again captain and No 8 Tom Smith gained rave reviews, and it is no coincidence that the Neath revival has coincided with his December return.

Smith was at the heart of the Neath effort and with the Ospreys in the midst of a back-row crisis, they could take a look in his direction.

Flanker Ben Davies had his best game of the season and, with Chris Davies also to the fore, the Blacks built victory around their powerful back-row trio.

Behind the scrum, Neath were galvanised by young Osprey Jonathan Spratt.

The Ravens were at their best when they had the wind on their backs during the first half - and everything revolved around polished scrum-half Nicky Griffiths.

But, as Bridgend director of rugby Colin Hillman quite rightly pointed out, the game turned on a try just before half-time from Neath centre Stephen Thomas.

"We registered two opportunist tries to go 17 points clear, but the killer blow was struck during injury time," said Hillman, who was on the bench when Bridgend last won at the ground back in February 1982.

"It was doubtful whether a 12-point lead with the wind was going to be enough, and Gareth Bowen placed Neath in the right places at the right time."

Even when they were 17 points adrift, Neath coach Phillips was confident the champions would come good - provided they cut out damaging errors.

"We were disappointed to have lost the game at Bridgend earlier in the season and are delighted to have made amends," he said.

"I'm not one to single out individuals but Tom Smith, Ben Davies and Jonathan Spratt were all outstanding in what was essentially a fine all-round team display."

The Blacks were their own worst enemies as they gift-wrapped early tries to pacy hooker Ieuan Dobbs and ex-Wizard Paul Morgan.

But it was almost like the Neath of old as they went on to dominate the second half from start to finish.

It was only a question of time before they broke Bridgend's resolve, and tries from full-back Gareth King and wing Aled Bevan did just that.

It sent the Blacks into a 20-17 lead on the hour, and they rounded off a notable comeback with a 77th-minute touchdown.

Centre Stephen Thomas was worked over for an 11th try of the season to confirm a 26th straight loss for Bridgend at their Gnoll bogey ground.

Neath	27 - 17 (7 - 13)	Bridgend
Tries: Thomas 2, King, Bevan		Tries: Dobbs, Morgan
Pens: Bowen		Pens: David
Cons: Bowen, Thomas		Cons: David 2

Bedwas 27 Pontypridd 27

By www.PontypriddRFC.co.uk - Rygbi Pontypridd - Official Website / Y Wefan Swyddogol - The Valleys' Premier Team.

In our preview to this game we predicted that Bedwas would prove difficult opposition despite their position in the League, and that Pontypridd would need to play good rugby for 80 minutes to win the game – something that we had failed to do for our last two games. Well, we managed a near perfect forty minutes in the first half against a very (very) strong wind, scored three excellent tries, and went in with a worthy 12-17 lead. It could even have been more. Unfortunately Ponty failed to capitalise on that good performance in the second half, and in the end were somewhat lucky to get away with a 27-27 draw.

The game began with the home forwards putting a lot of pressure on our pack and on our goal line. They got the penalty they deserved after about three minutes, converted by centre Phil Dorman. However, Ponty fought back well, and a good attack down the left by Chris Clayton forced a penalty which Neil Burnett narrowly failed to convert into the near gale. Bedwas continued to put us under pressure as the first half progressed, and another penalty by Dolman which bounced in off the post gave the home side a 6-0 advantage after about 15 minutes.

Pontypridd were doing well given the very difficult conditions, however, and a good forward drive forced Bedwas to concede another penalty which Burnett again just missed. The visitors were putting some good attacks together now, and eventually Dafydd Lockyer carved a huge hole in the Bedwas defence. Dan Hitchings was on hand to take the pass two metres out and crash over for a try. Burnett kicked the conversion, and Pontypridd had taken a deserved 6-7 lead despite the wind.

A missed penalty by Bedwas kept Ponty in the lead, and there was no doubt that we were in the driving seat now. Good work by Dafydd Lockyer kept on punching those holes in the defence, and the pressure resulted in a yellow card for one of the Bedwas players. Another try always looked possible, and it came when Dan Hitchings got the ball out on the right and muscled his way over near the corner flag. Burnett was just short with the very difficult conversion, but Ponty were now in front by 6-12.

With about half an hour gone Ponty were penalised following a minor melee on the ground in front of our Posts, and Dolman responded with another three points for the home side. However, it was not long before the Pontypridd back row and threequarters combined to launch a good attack down the left. Chris Clayton finished it off from 22 metres out with a superb run, shaking off a couple of tackles on the way. Burnett again just missed the difficult conversion to leave the score at 9-17 to Pontypridd. A second try for Clayton could have followed a few minutes later, but it was Bedwas who scored next with yet another penalty to Dolman. A yellow card for Paul Mathews then followed, and half time came with Pontypridd worthy leaders by 12-17.

With the near gale force wind still blowing strongly into Bedwas’ faces as the second half started, a good win for Pontypridd was clearly on the cards. It began well for the visitors when Neil Burnett burst clear with a few metres to go. It looked as though he could have made the line on his own, but he chose to pass – and we knocked on! However, the Bedwas full back was caught in possession a few minutes later, did not release the ball, and Neil kicked the resulting penalty. A fifth penalty into the wind for Bedwas made the score 15-20, but Pontypridd still had no cause to worry at this stage. A super break by Wayne Evans and a long pass to Chris Clayton put the impressive wing over for his second try, and an excellent conversion by Burnett made it 27-15. No problem.

However, Pontypridd was sometimes guilty of over complication in attack, and players seemed to be looking to get one more pass in rather than go for the line. With about 25 minutes of the second half gone the almost inevitable interception came. In a series of moves going first left and then creating an overlap on the right, both Grant Harrington and Jason Pocock might have scored themselves but instead chose to pass the ball on. The final flip pass was intercepted by the Bedwas wing Michael Silcox, and he ran the length of the field to score under the posts. The conversion went over and the score was 22-27, and Bedwas was back in business.

The home side now started to believe that they could salvage something from this game. Their heads had never gone down anyway, and good captaincy kept them battling on, helped by a string of penalties awarded by referee Simon Harris against a struggling Pontypridd. We were not playing well at this time, kicking badly in the windy conditions, and lacking control behind the scrum. The home pack was rampant, hassling Ponty into errors and driving them backwards time and time again. A forward drive down the left took them up to our line, and replacement lock Simon Jones was driven over for the try. It was now 27-27 and there was a difficult conversion to come. The Pontypridd supporters added their nervous breath to the blustery wind, and the conversion hit the posts and bounced out.

Pontypridd were now in some disarray, with poor kicking failing to keep us in the opposition half of the field, and little control from the forwards. Nevertheless, with time running out, we were awarded a very kickable penalty with the wind, but instead took a tap-penalty. It came to nothing, and at the other end Bedwas could have got the victory they deserved when a dropped goal just went wide in the last minute. It was the visitors that must have been relieved when the whistle went, and Bedwas that probably felt robbed of the win. A newspaper report on Sunday morning commented that neither side deserved to lose this game, and the draw was probably a fair result in the end.

Although Pontypridd did not play well for periods in the second half, let us try to remember our marvellous play in the first half, and also remember that Bedwas played very well throughout. Their forwards, in particular, were very impressive – well led and well organised. For Pontypridd, Chris Clayton and Dafydd Lockyer were excellent, Wayne Evans showed some of the nice touches that we have come to expect from this very good player, and Dan Hitchings deserved his two tries. The Pontypridd pack was on the back foot for long periods in this game, but Tu Tamarua was in the middle of everything as usual.

Ebbw Vale continued to show that they are worthy table-toppers with a late win at Swansea, but other results went our way. Newport went down to Llandovery, and Llanelli could only manage a 34-34 draw at Aberavon in what must have been a very exciting game of rugby. We can still win this League, but it ain’t going to be easy and we must play better than we did in the second half at Bedwas. A large Pontypridd contingent turned up at the Bridge Field, and was justifiably disappointed with the final result. Don’t worry – to paraphrase the Terminator – “we’ll be back”!

Bedwas	27 - 27 (12 - 17)	Pontypridd
Tries: Silcox, Jones		Tries: Hitchings. 2, Clayton 2
Pens: Dolman 5		Pens: Burnett
Cons: Dolman		Cons: Burnett 2

Welsh Premiership table

20 January 2007   Team P W D L F A PTS 1 Ebbw Vale 19 13 2 4 404 345 41 2 Pontypridd 19 12 1 6 397 378 37 3 Neath 19 11 2 6 490 359 35 4 Newport 18 11 2 5 448 307 35 5 Llanelli 18 10 2 6 455 344 32 6 Cardiff 19 9 1 9 440 385 28 7 Bridgend 19 9 0 10 365 371 27 8 Aberavon 16 8 2 6 382 360 26 9 Glamorgan Wanderers 19 7 1 11 379 468 22 10 Cross Keys 16 6 2 8 289 305 20 11 Bedwas 18 6 1 11 274 369 19 12 Swansea 19 6 0 13 304 462 18 13 Maesteg 17 6 0 11 328 375 18 14 Llandovery 18 5 0 13 344 471 15