SWALEC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2013/14
Oct 19 2013 LLANHARAN 17 BEDDAU 8 (HT 7-3)
This Local derby turned out to be a close affair only decided by an exciting late try, but Llanharan knew they should have been out of sight at half time. They dominated play but repeatedly failed to nail down try opportunities.
It was probably the hall mark of a young team, impetuosity and a desire to execute things at a hundred miles an hour bringing both excitement and disappointment in their play.
It meant that Beddau turned around only 7-3 behind, their own heroic defence, with former Dairyman Glen Slater to the fore, contributing to Llanharan’s frustrations.
Yellow cards also disrupted the home team’s cohesion, referee Jason Bessant sending Tom Piper and Mathew Williams to the sidelines either side of half time, despite their relatively innocuous offences being committed inside the visitors’ territory, in Piper’s case right on their try line. Beddau’s Dave Ellis too suffered a similar fate, his exclusion overlapping that of Williams.
However, Llanharan head coach Matthew Lloyd described the win which took the club into second place as one they would have gratefully taken before kick-off.
He added: “It was a good win played in difficult conditions - a hard, well contested game was what we expected and that was exactly what we got. Anything different wouldn’t have been llanharan/ Beddau.
“Our start was very pleasing, but our accumulation of points was very disappointing. Beddau were always going to have a spell in the game and they did, some thirty minutes in, coinciding with our first card.
“We did well to defend and score a crucial try before half time. In the second half we asked for a more concentrated effort and the players gave us just that. We were far more comfortable and played with more pace and fluidity which is what we will be working on again this week.
“Generally, the attitude of the players is commendable in that we are a squad and not individuals.”
Llanharan tries – Tom Piper, Gabriel Davies. Cons 2 and pen – Codey Rees.
Beddau try – Dai Francis; pen – Rhys Morgan.
LLANHARAN
15 JAMES MORRIS
14 HARRY DAVIES
13 MORGAN WILLIAMS
12 GABRIEL DAVIES
11 RHYS WALKER
10 CODEY REES
9 TOM MARLEY (MATHEW WILLIAMS HT)
1 CALLUM LEWIS (TOM PIPER 75)
2 NATHAN HUISH (C)
3 TOM PIPER (SIMON COLLINS 68)
4 DAN PARTRIDGE
5 ANDREW ROSEN
6 ADAM SCANLON (DAFFY DAVIES 67)
7 SCOTT MALONE
8 HUW THOMAS
UNUSED REPLACEMENTS: GETHIN CASHMORE, LEWIS YOUNG
Report and photos courtesy of Hugh Smith.