A WARM sunny day greeted the Villagers of Dinas Powys for their visit to Llantrisant to do battle with the Black army, as the home side are known.

The nickname The Black Army relates to the fact that the longbowmen of Llantrisant sided victoriously with Edward, the Black Prince at the Battle of Crecy.

The home side kicked off, playing down an appreciable slope, and with this in their favour the home side dominated the majority of the first half. Urged on by the fervent home support the home side took the lead through an early penalty and extended their lead with a well worked try that saw the Llantrisant outside centre cross unopposed under the posts. The easy conversion was a formality and within 10 minutes the home side led by 10-0.

Visits to the opposition half at this point was a novelty for the Villagers and scoring opportunities were rare as the home side used the terrain to their advantage.

The visiting support were encouraged by powerful bursts by centres Sonny Driscoll and Ciaran Driscoll, and eventually the Villagers pack were able to pick and drive and advance up the slope.

Pack leader Huw Thomas was to the fore in this facet of play and after breaching the first line of defence the ball was fed by lively scrum half Sam Middlemiss to prop Luke Dyer who displayed good hands in giving a well weighted pass to second row Gareth "Gazza" Williams who crossed for the try. This was to prove the only points scored at that end of the pitch, verifying the influence of the topography of the pitch.

The home side dominated the remaining 20 minutes of the first half, with Dinas only able to threaten a further score only once as they ran turn over ball from near their own tryline a fine line break by Ciaran Driscoll freed Dan Evans on the left wing and with a try looking inevitable, Evans threw an inside pass that evaded the clutches of the supporting Nathan Williams.

The home side scored two tries during this period, the first a well worked move in the threequarters bringing in their right wing between their centres to score a try that even the visiting supporters generously applauded, and a second more predictable try following a series of lineouts and rolling mauls. The half-time whistle blew with the home side enjoying a healthy 22-5 lead.

The slope was however now in their favour and half-time saw coach John Dunleavy make several changes as prop Andrew O'Malia, hooker Corey Imperatto, flanker Lewys John and fly half John Morris enter the fray.

The Villagers dominated the second half and with the home side under extreme pressure for the first half hour of the second half, tries by Sonny Driscoll and Sam Middlemiss were converted by Morris and the home lead was reduced to 22-19.

The visitors were rampant and with Ryan Shallish and Lewys Dunleavy running and distributing the ball like threequarters and with Corey Imperatto and Lewys John making good distance with their more abrasive style a further score seemed inevitable. The home defence was resolute and the ball was prevented from emerging at all opportunities by an experienced home back row.

With seven minutes remaining the visitors were awarded a penalty that Morris converted to draw the score level at 22-22. The visitors appeared to be favourites to gain the victory, but a series of apparently harsh penalties were awarded against Dinas Powys and with time running out it was the home side that struck the post with a long range penalty kick attempt.

The final whistle blew and both sides believed that victory could have been theirs and both sets of supporters discussed decisions that did not go in their favour. Upon reflection gaining two league points away at Llantrisant, at the end of the season may appear to be a fine result.

At this early part of the season four sides in the league remain unbeaten, Dinas Powys, Llantrisant, Porth Quins and Penarth.

Next fixture on September 26 at 2.30pm on the Common is Dinas Powys v Penarth, come and support your local team.