Fixture

St Clears RFC | 1st Team 12 - 39 Carmarthen Athletic RFC | 1st Team
Alun Davies
Try 1
Owain Davies
Try 1
Geraint Jones
Conversion 1

Match Report
22 September 2017 / Team News

Home to Carmarthen Athletic 23/09/2017

WRU National League Division 2 West

Saturday 23rd September 2017

St Clears 12  Carmarthen Athletic 39

Following last week’s excellent performance against Pontyberem, St Clears started this local derby against neighbours Carmarthen in confident mood but found themselves on the back foot against the team in second position in the division, quickly demonstrating the skills which have put them in that position.

Within ten minutes the first try was recorded by the visitor’s right wing Sion Brooke at the end of a fluent illustration of their slick back division’s abilities but the long conversion attempt by Brooke from wide right was missed to leave the initial score at just the five points.

Saints raised their game however following this setback and pushed Carmarthen back in a period of sustained pressure which resulted in a try 25 minutes into the game for scrum half Owen Davies converted by full back Geraint Jones to put the home side in front by two points.

This simply served to stimulate the visitors to up their game however and within ten minutes three tries resulted, two from outside centre Tom Gravell and one from the other centre Aled Jones, all from very similar moves from the visitors’ classy backs. Only one conversion from Brooke however limited the score to 22 points to 7 at half time.

The second half followed the same pattern established in the first half with the visitors using their possession more effectively and number 8, Richard Bloomfield outstanding in organising distribution from the pack thereby releasing scrum half Carwyn Evans to produce an extra man at the back with space and time to organise things. Saints were unable to counter this tactic nor resist the pressure created by the dominant back division as a result, with a third try coming from Tom Gravell and a sixth for Carmarthen by open side flanker Callum Evans.  One conversion by Carwyn Evans stretched the lead to 34 points to 7 effectively settling matters fifteen minutes into the second half!

A spirited response from Saints produced a debut try for tight head prop Alun (Tank) Davies (pictured) in the corner to narrow the gap but again the visitors were able to exploit their superiority on the flanks and the other wing Josh Watson was able to score under the posts for the final try. The conversion was surprisingly missed however to leave the final score at 39 points to 12.

 

Players