Dinas Powys RFC bow out of SWALEC Bowl (From Penarth Times)

Dinas Powys RFC bow out of SWALEC Bowl

8:20am Thursday 4th October 2012 in Sport

LLANTWIT MAJOR RFC 24 DINAS POWYS RFC 3

THE Villagers made the relatively short journey to the historic village of Llantwit Major for this SWALEC bowl cup encounter.

The WRU have placed Dinas Powys RFC in a South Central league, which means the players spend longer on the coach to and from the match than they do playing the game.

Therefore this season Coach Andy Vesey had decided that the league would be the priority - and accordingly made nine changes to the side that gained victory in the league the previous week.

The home side had the benefit of the slope and a strong breeze in the first half and it took a commited defensive effort from the Villagers to keep the half time score to 6-0.

The magnificent back row of Andrew Knibbs, Gareth 'Banjo' Williams and Morgan Williams tackled tirelessly, and with scrum half Kieron Spear controlling the game from scrum half it was Dinas that finished the first half pressing for the game's first try.

A delighted set of coaches at half time now encouraged their charges to maximise the benefits of the elements now in their favour. It was however the home side that scored first in the second half through a penalty, which was soon nullified by a penalty for Dinas, converted by fly half Garvyn Cooper.

The Villagers however were not to score again, even though exciting breaks by centre Dai Lloyd and wings James Smith and the powerful Mark Goode offered hope, but a well drilled home side held firm with resolute defence. Llantwit, familiar with the conditions that they encounter for every home game, utilised their forwards to carry the ball powerfully and combined for rolling maul after rolling maul.

The result of one was a penalty for dragging it to the floor, and another led to the first try of the contest which allowed the home side to lead 17-3.

Dinas responded with attacks of their own, and a searing break from centre John 'Evo' Evans freed pacey wing Smith to round his opposite number and run 50 metres. With the cover defence coming across, the wing chipped ahead, but the ball bounced kindly for the home full back who passed to his left wing who made good ground before passing inside to allow the supporting player to score an excellent team try in the left corner.

The difficult conversion was added and the score advanced with ten minutes of the game remaining to what proved to be the final tally of 24-3. The highlight of this period was the sight of head coach Vesey entering the fray as a replacement, adding another season to his long list of appearances.

A brave performance against a well drilled team that remain unbeaten at home for the season.

* The Villagers return to league action on Saturday with another away game at Tonna .