Cefn Cribbwr 27 Sports 21

Squad - C Davies, S Narbeth, M John, P Jurgewic, G Lewis, M Murphy, R Dowling, G Punter, R Wallis, J Lorrimer, M Chapman, R Brewer, C Norris, J Bryant, M Harris, J Aitken, K Roberts

In very blustery conditions, Cefn chose to play with the strong wind put their kicking game into first gear. The Sports threes handled well from the outset and were rewarded when Matthew Murphy scored a fine try in the corner after excellent movement of the ball. Townley made the score 0-7 with a superb kick against the wind.

Some impressive ball retention by Cefn saw their heavy pack drive 5 or 6 times at the Sports defence. Dowling, Punter and Wallis in the back row were tackling everything, but there was no stopping second row Mark Collett when he smuggled the ball over the whitewash. Chris Hooper missed the kick.
When the Matthew Chapman took the Cefn lineout ball, the threes widened it again with Townley looping twice before the ball was switched to the opposite wing for Chris Davies to score an unconverted try in the corner. A re-opening of a facial injury saw Dowling leave the field and when Jamie Lorrimer 'popped' his shoulder there had to be a big re-arrangement of the pack.
Mark Harris switched from sub back row to second row and showed his versatility in both positions.The Sports put themselves a bit under pressure in their own half and conceded a penalty for off side which Chris Hooper converted to make it 8-12. With 10 minutes of added time played Cefn returned to their tight driving game allowing another two yard burst by Collett for his second try. Hooper failed to add the points, making the half time score 15-12.

In the second half the Sports made good use of the wind and pinned Cefn in their own half for long periods. The handling of the Cefn threes was good under pressure and a rare moment of threequarter play, and a rare visit to the Sports 22, by Cefn, saw Hooper glide through the Sports with ease to score. Poor tackling here. Again he missed the conversion taking the score to 20 -12.

The Sports rallied back and for 15 minutes had Cefn very much on the back foot. In this period they conceded three penalties, all of which Townley converted making the score 20-21 to the visitors with minutes left. One of these kick was a monster from the halfway line and one that was missed .just. was from the Sports half.
With the Sports unable to clear their line Cefn camped in the corner of the field they play so well and their driving was to prove too strong for a Sports team who had tackled to a standstill and after hard work by the Cefn forwards it was scrum half Ian Williams who was driven over for the winning score. Substitute kicker Jamie Humphreys added the points for a final score line of 27-21.