Match Report - St. Joseph's.

Llanharan v St Joseph’s Match Report.

Saturday 25th January 2025, The Dairy Field, Llanharan.

Courtesy of Gareth Morgan. 👍

It is fair to say that the Dairymen went into their first home league fixture of 2025, against a St Joseph’s team flying high in the league and challenging for promotion, as slight underdogs.  However, it is equally fair to say that they would be eager to bounce back, from a disappointing narrow away defeat, against fierce rivals Penarth last time out.

The first half, was on the whole a scrappy affair, punctuated by two attacking moves of excellent quality, provided by the men in black and blue.  The first, towards the end of the first quarter, saw the home team awarded an attacking line out, some thirty-five meters from the Penarth line.  With the help of his lifters, experienced lock Kieran Martin soared the highest and claimed perfect ball.  On returning to earth, the pack formed perfectly around him and gave as fine an example of the rolling maul as you are likely to see.  They were irresistible in their surge to the line, which resulted in the not uncommon sight of Jack Walker touching the ball down, for the game’s first try.  Scott Jones nailed the conversion, to give the Dairymen a seven-nil lead. 

The second moment of brilliance, saw stalwart centre Jack Brooks, who rarely puts a foot wrong, pick an attacking angle that any international centre would have been proud of, to canter over unopposed beneath the posts.  Captain Scott Jones was again on hand to slot the conversion.  Between both moments of brilliance, Scott had uncharacteristically missed a penalty attempt at the posts, whilst St Joseph’s outside half had slotted a straightforward penalty, to make the half time score 14-3 to Llanharan.  At this stage, the Dairymen looked anything but underdogs, and the home supporters could have been forgiven for questioning whether a try scoring bonus point was on the cards.

The second half turned out to be an equally scrappy affair, with the visitors striking first, as number 8 Ollie Young crossed for a try that was unconverted, 14-8 to the Dairymen.  Scott Jones kicked a penalty to extend the home lead to 17-8, but gradually it was becoming apparent that the tide was turning, and the more experienced and heavier St Joseph’s pack were gaining the upper hand.  The half was a story determined by forward orientated St Joseph’s attack against dogged Llanharan defence.  Eventually, with home skipper Scott Jones having ten minutes to contemplate things in the sin bin the visitors crossed Llanharan’s try line again, the try which went unconverted making the score 17-13.  The ever-reliable Scott Jones, back on after his sojourn, kicked another penalty to extend the Black and Blue lead to 20-13, with less than five minutes to play.  However, with the home side again down to 14 men, with influential centre Jack Brooks having seen yellow, St Joseph’s breached the home try line for a third time, with the last play of the game, to make the score 20-18 to the Dairymen.  St Joseph’s outside half Iwan Dawes had not had a great day with the boot, however, he duly slotted the conversion, to draw the game.

Llanharan’s young tight head Jack Dauncey, got through mountains of work in the loose, and was deservedly named player of the match.  The Dairymen will be disappointed with the draw, after a commanding first half, but the sin binning of two such influential players in contentious circumstances, in the final quarter certainly didn’t help their cause.  The Dairymen will be looking for an improved result, away to Rhiwbina next Saturday.