This was a bitter pill for the home side to swallow as they went down to defeat at Parc y Scarlets. It really was a must win game for Llanelli as they now go on the road in the Premiership throughout November. Three tough away games await, Cross Keys, Aberavon and RGC – so, they’ll have to work tirelessly to get some points on the board, if not, they could have a real uphill struggle on their hands to climb out of the relegation zone.
The game started well for the home side, good pressure resulted in an early successful penalty from full back Ashley Sutton. That theme continued as Llanelli continued to apply pressure on the Bedwas try line. The ball was fed along the backs and it looked as though a try was on, but a deliberate knock on brought the move to an end. After deliberating with his assistant referee, match official Aaron Parry awarded a penalty try. A little strange that no yellow card was shown for the offence though! So, after just 9 mins, the home side led 10 – 0. A few minutes later, a penalty for the visitors was struck well by full back Joe Scrivens to reduce the arrears. Six minutes later the game was tied – from a lineout deep in their opponents 22m area, Bedwas secured the ball and fed out to outside half Jacob Chilcott, he slipped through a gap in the home defence to cross under the posts. Scrivens converted.
Going into the second quarter it was nip & tuck with both sides trying to gain the upper hand. Llanelli were being penalised at scrum time which allowed the visitors to gain good field position. On 27 mins, centre Mike Callow crossed for Bedwas’ second try which went unconverted. The home side pressed for the remainder of the half and got their reward right on half time. The ball was moved along the line to wing Kalum Evans who finished well to draw the side’s level at the half. Llanelli 15 – 15 Bedwas.
The third quarter saw both sides testing each other out, and with just a penalty apiece during this period, it was very much any one’s game. Then on 61mins a fine break by centre Jonny Lewis took play close to the Bedwas try line, a series of phases saw the home side score their third try when skipper Nathan Hart crossed wide out. The conversion attempt failed so a narrow 5pt advantage was opened up. A few minutes later (68mins) a speculative thro kick saw wing Kane Teear-Bourge out strip the home defence to tie the scores up once again – this time the conversion was successful by Scrivens. Going into the last 10 mins the visitors led 23 – 25, still plenty of time left though for Llanelli to grab the lead back. It wasn’t to be, the home side were on the wrong end of the penalty count, and a little backchat to the ref didn’t help there cause either. In the final minute another penalty by Scrivens sealed the visitors win and completed the disappointing afternoon for the town semi’s.
