THE sun shone once again on a very firm and dusty Common for Dinas Powys’ final home league game of the season.

The Villagers entertained Porthcawl, a team which had won a tense encounter between the two sides earlier in the campaign, 20-16 – a defeat that could still have a negative impact upon Dinas’ season.

The malaise which was evident in the performance against Glyncoch the previous week continued for the first quarter of the match.

The Villagers yet again struggled to perform to the standard expected by coaches Andy Vesey and Richard Boyland.

There were flashes of note as forwards and backs combined to allow centre Dai Lloyd to free left wing James Smith for a stunning 50 metres run to take him to within five metres of the Porthcawl try line.

The resulting scrum saw flanker Lewys John charge down the attempted clearance kick, but the ball bounced over the dead ball line.

The visitors were enjoying the majority of possession and territory and only fine defensive work by the home side kept them at bay.

The back row of Lewys John, Morgan Williams and No.8 Gareth Williams, were to the fore in this effort, supplemented by the fine tackling of centre John Evans, as the Villagers prevented the visitors from scoring.

The defence was tested further as centre Lloyd, for the second week in succession, was deemed to have used a swinging arm in a tackle and was sent from the pitch for 10 minutes.

The pressure from the Seaweeders was immense, but full back Ben White was sound in defence, with his clearance kicks consistently gaining distance.

It was against the run of play, therefore, that the Villagers took the lead, with a rare visits into the opposition half.

A powerful scrum laid the platform for number nine Nathan Williams to snipe from the base and feed back inside to No.8 Williams.

He dummied and made a powerful break before passing to Lewys John, who swiftly transferred to right wing Duke Durham.

The current youth team captain had 30 metres to the line and flew down the touchline to score a superb winger’s try.

The difficult conversion was missed, but the home side were relieved to be on the scoresheet with the added bonus of being in the lead.

The visitors resumed their territorial dominance, but the home forwards were starting to win a steady stream of possession, the front row was gaining the upper hand, and league debutant Luke Dyer at prop was proving a handful at scrum and breakdown.

Fellow front rowers, hooker Lloyd Horwood and prop Mike Jones, were not only doing their job in the tight, they were carrying the ball powerfully in open play.

Flanker Williams won turnover ball, which was fed on halfway to Durham, coming in off his wing and running powerfully.

The winger was tackled by two Porthcawl players but managed to drive on for a further 10 metres before going to ground.

The ball was recycled quickly and found its way to left wing James Smith, who passed inside to the ever present Morgan Williams.

He cut a telling angle to cover the remaining 20 metres and finish off a superb team try.

The conversion, landed by Gan Cooper, extended the lead to a flattering 12-0.

A break by No.8 Williams, who span and dummied, and, with an impressive burst of speed, ran 60 metres before feeding scrum half Williams, who raced in to score a stunning try under the posts.

With the conversion added by Cooper, the Villagers led 19-0 after 41 minutes.

The visitors enjoyed a further period of pressure and, following a lineout, the inevitable rolling maul allowed the visiting scrum half to score a try.

This was to be their only score of the afternoon and, with the wind at their backs, it was the home side that controlled the remainder of the contest.

White and Cooper used the elements and kicked for territory and asked questions of the visiting attack.

The visitor’s woes at the scrum were exacerbated with the introduction of loose head prop Tom Paterson as a replacement for the impressive Dyer.

Smith, in the second row, was replaced by Owen Stark, who was soon in action, charging along the touchline before slipping a deft pass to Nathan Williams who drove on, allowing Smith, coming in off his wing, to act as scrum half and feed Cooper.

A clever kick by Cooper was chased enthusiastically by White.

The defending full back was tackled to the ground by White, the ever alert scrum half Williams arrived to drive over the ball, pick up and score a try.

The conversion of the bonus point gaining try by Cooper advanced the score to a comfortable 26-5 with a quarter of an hour remaining.

The involvement of Stark was curtailed by a knee injury and saw the introduction of enthusiastic flanker Ryan Shallis, and the enforced promotion of Lewys John to the second row.

The visitors were understandably deflated and a buoyant home side now tormented the visitors by running the ball from all areas of the field.

It was, therefore, ironic that the final score of the afternoon followed a visiting scrum that was forced to collapse, and a powerful home drive.

The resulting penalty, within the home 22 metres area, was quickly taken by scrum half Williams, who danced and dummied all the way for a brilliant individual try.

The conversion was secured by Cooper and, with no further scoring, a highly entertaining contest concluded with the final score standing at 33-5 in favour of the home side.

The final league game of the season is away to champions Glyncoch, who remain undefeated in league rugby for two seasons.

The Villagers will be smarting from the heavy defeat inflicted upon them last week by Glyncoch, but will travel in high spirits, confidence boosted by Saturday’s excellent dispatching of a very lively Porthcawl side.