Dinas Powys RFC come from 18 points down to win thriller at Canton

MANY people expected a thriller at the foot of Leckwith Hill last Saturday, but most of them expected the thrills to be at the Cardiff City stadium with the European champions Leinster visiting the Blues.

As a person who watched both games, this correspondent can assure you that the more exciting contest by far was across the road at Lawrenny Road, the home of Canton RFC .

A decent crowd gathered on a sunny day, the majority there to cheer on the resurgent Villagers in one of their closest away league fixtures.

The game started brightly with both sides showing attacking intent in perfect playing conditions. Returning centre Max Thorne was prominent in the early passages, showing pace and always looking for the outside break.

The Villagers enjoyed early territory and possession and with Andrew Knibbs winning a plethora of early lineout ball it was disappointing that some awful passing amongst the threequarters squandered this hard-won ball.

The reward for the early dominance was a penalty kicked by full back Lewis Morgan for offside play amongst the home forwards, and Dinas led by 3 points.

With the high fence around the neighbouring hockey pitch proving an attractive target for clearance kicks, ballboy Ryan Mullins was kept busy.

The hosts have been competitive all season losing six games by less than 7 points and they were to enjoy a purple patch, scoring an unanswered 21 points in the next 20 minutes.

During this period Canton were simply magical, scoring three converted tries. The first followed a magnificent effort by the Dinas forwards to shove the home scrum off their feed. However, the referee deemed a reset scrum with the home side retaining the put-in. With the scrum more solid the ball was moved to the left wing with efficiency and panache and the try was scored in the corner.

Dinas contributed to their own demise as following a miraculous one-handed take at the lineout by Nick Vaggas in the opposition 22, a series of sloppy passes cost a loss of 40 metres. From the resulting scrum a simple number 8 pick up passed to the scrum half with an inside pass to the full back breached the defence and the try was scored.

With the Villagers trailing 14-3, the restart was gathered by second row Wes Tokalon who fed livewire scrum half Nathan Williams who ran 50 metres to within touching distance of the Canton tryline. The home defence recovered and cleared the danger.

The home side were running the ball from all areas and with their backs showing good pace and running angles, it was only desperate defence by flanker Lewys John and wing John 'Evo' Evans that prevented the seemingly inevitable try.

The hosts' third try was a classic in true Barbarian style that even the firmest Dinas Powys supporter had to admire. The outside half made a break towards the left touchline, passed one-handed to the winger who then passed to the centre on the scissors and a glorious try was scored.

So after half an hour Canton were leading 21-3 and a long afternoon seemed in prospect for the Villagers.

The restart was enthusiastically chased by the Dinas forwards and the turnover was gained following strong work from workhorse second row Matthew Knibbs. The ball was kick-stabbed through by fly half David Lloyd and carried over by the hosts providing the Villagers with an attacking 5 metre scrum. With half time approaching it seemed imperative for the Villagers to add to their measly total.

The threequarters have won many a bouquet for their scintillating displays this year, but this time it was the power of the front five of Jones, Horwood, Paterson, Knibbs and Tokalon that secured the ball at the scrum and drove the home side back over the tryline to allow number 8 Vaggas to score the try for a half time score of 21-8.

Coach Andy Vesey told his charges that the team which scored next would win, and with a few onfield tweeks, inspired Dinas to a thrilling comeback.

The first score was an excellent early penalty kicked by fullback Morgan following poor discipline by the hosts, and hopes were stirred that the unlikely prophecy would come true.

In sport, momentum is a strange thing and the ebb and flow of belief and confidence on the pitch was palpable. A fine attacking kick to the touchline by fly half Lloyd secured great field position and with the resulting lineout stolen by Lewys John supported by the wily Matthew Knibbs was driven on at pace.

With quick ball secured, the ball was moved to right wing Nick Burns who cut inside beating three covering defenders with his angle to score in the corner. It was a fitting score as the young wing was playing his first game for a year since he broke his ankle.

The difficult conversion was scored by Morgan and the score moved to 21-18.

Tactics and injury saw the introduction of Mark Goode into the backrow and Tom Chapman on to the right wing replacing Andrew Knibbs and Burns respectively.

Confidence on and off the pitch was high and a telling break by centre Adam Williams freed left wing Evo who was bundled into touch near the corner flag. The visiting threequarters were hardly recognisable from the first half as the ball was moved fluently from one side to the other seeking a chink in the home defence.

A fine break from Chapman saw the inside pass to the enigmatic David Lloyd whose progress was stopped by a high tackle that was penalised and with the penalty kicked the score advanced to 21-21.

The hosts were wobbling and the Villagers sought to secure victory by throwing everything at the defence, and only desperate defence prevented the visitors taking the lead.

A long clearance kick by the home scrum half was caught by Evo and on to Lewis Morgan who arced at pace to the right before swinging out a long pass to scrum half Williams on the wing. He outstripped defenders to score in the corner and the score moved to an incredible 21-26.

The hosts were stunned into action and encouraged by their supporters secured good field position after stealing a lineout throw, and after confusion in the Dinas midfield their centre scored a try under the posts and with the conversion added they retook the lead 28-26.

The hosts took an eternity to get the kicking tee for the conversion on to the field and were penalised for time wasting and the match was restarted through a Villagers penalty that Lloyd kicked towards the attacking right hand corner.

The fly half was controlling the second half with great aplomb, his task made easier by the quality of the ball provided by the impressive forwards. Lloyd, following an impressive list of players who have worn the 10 shirt, deserves to be mentioned amongst the brilliant Jon Jenkins and internationals David Evans and Steve Kelly.

The position was squandered and the home fly half kicked deep into the Dinas half where the ball was gathered by the eager Lewis Morgan, who again attacked with relish before passing to centre Thorne.

This balanced runner stepped off both feet mesmerising defenders before placing a deft kick to the attacking left touchline, finding the ever alert scrum half Williams on his own on the touchline allowing him to score in the corner and take the score to 28-31.

The hosts again attacked impressively, but the Dinas defence was alert to the abilities and limitations of their opponents and rearranged themselves accordingly and they had to settle for a penalty for a high tackle.

The penalty kick was successful and with 3 minutes remaining the scoreline stood at 31-31. Emotions were mixed as the game restarted and the hosts were pinned in their own 22, forcing their fly half to clear his line.

The ball was gathered on half way by energetic hooker Lloyd Horwood who passed to centre Max Thorne who again breached the initial defence before feeding co-centre Williams who was 5 metres in from the right touchline and fully 35 metres from the tryline.

The covering defence appeared to have him contained, but the powerful Dinas Powys youth product managed to shrug off the attention of the first two defenders carried the next defender with him for a few metres before discarding him and forcing his way over to score a fine individual try.

The emotions of both sets of players and supporters were marked and with the conversion added by Morgan the score stood at 31-38. The referee who was enjoying his afternoon, deemed there still time for the game to continue.

The effort to secure the ball by both sets of forwards was immense but it was the impressive Matthew Knibbs who appeared from the melee with the ball that allowed Nathan Williams to kick off the field and signal the end of the contest.

This was an epic match that will long be remembered by all present, an old fashioned rugby match that was well refereed at the breakdown. This ensured that both sets of impressive threequarters were able to obtain quick ball and therefore display their attacking prowess, with both sides securing try scoring bonus points. The referee had an excellent game.

Amongst all this fine back play however it was the Dinas Powys pack that secured victory, with their dominance at the scrum proving the difference.

In a game in which 10 tries were scored, 9 of them by backs, it is ironic that the most influential players on the pitch were a bulky prop who destroyed the opposition scrum and a gnarled second row who would not leave the field despite injury.

Team spirit and morale in the club is high following the Youth team achieving the double over Penarth following their success away from home last Saturday.

Dinas return to the Common this Saturday, kick off 2.30pm for the visit of Abertysswg who smashed the Villagers 43-17 in the corresponding fixture in September. Revenge is very much on the home agenda!