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NEWCASTLE EMLYN 37    SKEWEN 18

At long last Newcastle Emlyn put together a performance of which their coaches and supporters could be proud. On a cold autumnal day, on a pitch made extremely heavy by the overnight rain Emlyn turned in a controlled, dominant performance by the whole side especially the forwards. Injuries played a crucial part in selection and had a great bearing on the game as the players who had to step into the fold performed admirably. None more so than the revamped back row of Brynmor Jones, Joel James and Luke Kendall, along with second rows Dylan Davies and Dyfed Morgan. Probably the biggest back row the red and whites have ever fielded, they absolutely dominated the contact area as did the two second rows in the line out with the visitors only winning two line outs all game. To their credit Skewen defended manfully and time after time Emlyn attacks floundered in the face of some fierce tackling. With the forwards dominating proceedings Emlyn outside half Steffan Evans directed matters with all the skill and vision that he possesses, directing runners onto the ball from all phases of play.

In the previous meeting between the two sides the Skewen scrum had given Emlyn a torrid time but the Emlyn front row of props Dai Jones and Dai Bryant, along with hooker Alex Williams, held their own against much heavier opponents on a day that suited a powerful scrummaging pack. Despite a great deal of pressure from the kick off it took until the seventeenth minute before Emlyn opened the scoring. From a scrum in the Skewen twenty-two the backs executed a lovely move which almost led to a score, but showing great patience and control the home side went through a series of rucks before full back Llyr Davies ghosted through for the opening score converted by winger Iestyn Crompton. Called in at the last minute to take over the kicking duties, Crompton, probably the fourth choice kicker if everyone was fit, had a day to remember and ended up with a personal tally of twenty two points.

Things were beginning to look ominous for the visitors now as Davies and Morgan began to continuously steal Skewen ball from the line outs allowing scrum half Mike Jones to kick intelligently downfield. Emlyn extended their lead shortly after when Skewen were penalised for collapsing a driving maul from a line out and Crompton converted the penalty. As happens in the Championship, Skewen roused themselves and managed to work their way downfield courtesy of a couple of Emlyn defensive errors leading to scrums in the Emlyn half. Their inability to clear their lines led to them being penalised and outside half Anthony Busselli opened the scoring for the visitors with a penalty kick.

Led by Brynmor Jones, closely followed by his two other back row colleagues, Emlyn really took the game to the visitors with some powerful runs by the forwards, driving Skewen back all the time. Jones in fact, alternating between number eight and openside, had possibly one of his best games ever for the red and whites with his elusive running causing huge problems for Skewen. Crompton extended Emlyn’s lead with another penalty in the thirty fifth minute. From the restart Emlyn failed to find touch and Skewen replied with a huge kick downfield. Fielded by full back Llyr Davies he opted to run it back at Skewen, and when the opposition started to close him down he put in a long kick downfield deep into the Skewen twenty-two. The Skewen defenders had to turn and race back to try and get to the ball and it became a race between attackers and defenders. Fortunately for Emlyn, speedy scrum half Mike Jones manged to get his hands on the ball, picked it up, and crossed for Emlyn’s second try, converted by Crompton. On half time Bushelli kicked another penalty for the visitors.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with Emlyn putting together series after series of attacks and Skewen defending admirably. For the first twenty minutes Skewen could not get out of their half, but Emlyn could not manage to score another try. They should have had one right at the start of the second half. From a line out Emlyn again drove to the visitors’ line, were brought down short but then went through probably six phases using their powerful forwards on drives. Outside half Evans then called for the ball which was moved along the line to Crompton who was unmarked on the left wing, all he had to do was dive some three metres for the try line. He opted instead to stay on his feet and the desperate Skewen defence got across to knock the ball form his grasp over the line.

Crompton did increase the home side’s lead on the twenty minute mark with a well struck penalty kick from some thirty eight metres. Emlyn now rang the changes and as always happens the replacements took some time to settle. This gave Skewen the opportunity to get into the Emlyn twenty-two from a well struck penalty kick. Unfortunately for them their line-out once again let them down. The throw to the back of the line was picked off by Brynmor Jones who started running down field and found outside half Steffan Evans on his shoulder. Evans took the pass just outside his own twenty-two and, showing a fine turn of speed, it looked as if he would go all the way to score himself. When he was eventually brought down some ten metres short of the line, James and Kendall ensured Skewen could not slow the ruck ball down and, two passes later, replacement hooker Carwyn Rees crossed by the posts for a try converted by Crompton.

Skewen had begun the second half with the mind-set to run everything at Emlyn realising that with their line out malfunctioning, kicking for field position was not an option for them. However the Emlyn defence for most of the game was solid, with centre Teifion Davies leading the way with some excellent tackles. Emlyn’s fourth try came on the half hour mark and could be attributed more than anything to the size of the Emlyn in-goal area. A Skewen attack broke down on the Emlyn twenty-two metre line and speedy Emlyn centre Llyr Jones just kicked the ball downfield. A second fly- hack sent the ball into Skewen’s twenty-two and Jones looked certain to score but his third strike saw the ball spin off his foot away from him deep into the Skewen in-goal area. Fortunately winger Crompton managed to touch the ball down a metre from the dead ball line to score the all-important fourth try, which he converted.

Showing commendable spirit the visitors attacked Emlyn from the restart and it has to be said some sloppy defending by the home side allowed them to score an unconverted try from a driving maul, only the second line-out they had won, courtesy of flanker Richard Davies. Then with the last play of the match Luke Myall crossed for a try by the posts which Busselli converted to bring to an end to the match and a much needed victory for the home side.