| Fleur de Lys 17 -
Caerphilly 23 (Fleur de Lys 2 try - Caerphilly 2 try) |
| Welsh National League Division 1 East |
| Half-time score: Fleur de Lys 10 - Caerphilly 13 |
| Date: Saturday 16th February 2008 |
| Kick-off time: 2:30pm |
| Referee: - Alan Jenkins (Swansea) |
| Attendance: - 400 |
| Fleur de Lys Website: - www.fleur-de-lysrfc.co.uk |
| Weather: - Clear |
| Match Report by Mark Tamplin |
Caerphilly’s march to the top flight hangs in the balance as a required bonus points win turned into narrow win at Trecelyn Park last Saturday. Pontypool’s defeat at the hands of UWIC was a bonus to the castletown side who still have two fixtures to play against Pooler, who have been topping the table since early season. Thrown into the melting pot are Bargoed, one point ahead of Caerphilly, and two behind Pooler, all team having played 12 games of a 22 match season, and leading the chasing pack by 11 points. Good news preceded the team, when the club received acceptance from the WRU in the week, confirming their qualification for promotion, meeting the necessary criteria along with Pontypool, Newbridge and Beddau, for season 2008-9. None of the Division 1 West teams have met the required standard therefore negating the need for an East v West showdown to decide promotion to the WRU Principality Premiership League, next season. This has turned the Division 1 East into a possible automatic promotion should the four Qualifying teams finish top of the league. Indeed Caerphilly’s fixture with Pontypool scheduled for this Friday evening has turned into a double pointer as both teams chase the available promotion spot, and a return to Semi-Professional status for both clubs. On the field Caerphilly took an early lead against a gutsy Fleur team, hell bent on spoiling the Castletown’s aspirations. Losing 5 of their first 6 lineouts, Caerphilly eventually drove their way up field, winning a penalty for Dean Watkins to convert. While spending excessive time in their own half, Caerphilly broke free on 22 minutes, winger Steffan Sankala breaking down the left wing, drawing the defence, before passing inside, finally into the hands of flanker Gary Davies. With the Fleur defence closing on his outside, Davies was forced to drive for the line, crossing as the defence pounced, close to the posts. Watkins stepping up to the mark, giving the visitors a 10 point lead. The early sin binning of winger Chris Thomas put the visitors on the back foot and afforded Fleur a duly converted penalty by outside half Brett Green. Busy No8 Matthew Lawrence made his presence known in the 27th minute. Good work by the back row of Dale Taylor and Dean Gibbs took play up to the Caerphilly 22, from a scrum on half way. Scrum half Rhys Hallett produced an early ball from the ruck, which Lawrence gleefully took, powering his way through some poor tackling to cross the line. Green converting and Fleur level. Another penalty by Watkins on 40 minutes gave Caerphilly lead entering the second period. It took just 2 minutes of the second half, for the visitors to extend their lead, Watkins converting a penalty as Fleur were guilty of killing the ball on the floor, an offence that cost Caerphilly a player to the bin earlier, referee Alan Jenkins from Swansea failing to keep consistency on this occasion. Fleur missed a golden opportunity to draw level from the restart. Caerphilly unable to take the drop out, and good backwork taking play up to the 5 mtr line. Spinning the ball out, green narrowly pulling the ball inside the posts. Chris Thomas put the Castletown men ahead on 65 minutes with a well crafted try on the right wing. Scrummaging on the half way line, scrum half Rob Phillips collected from the base and broke right, creating an overlap. Running at the pace, Full Back Nathan Gittings entered the line and drew the Fleur defence before releasing Thomas to score unopposed. Watkins converting to give the visitors a 10-23 lead. Referee Jenkins reached for his pocket again on 37 minutes, as replacement hooker Lee Pearce was adjudged to kill the ball during another Fleur attack, and spent the remainder of the game on the sidelines. No.8 Lawrence spotted the defence napping and took a quick tap penalty, powering his way over the line once more, the ever dependable Green converting. |
| Fleur de Lys Team | Caerphilly Team | |
| Christian Wills | 15 - Fullback | Nathan Gittings |
| Mark McKee | 14 - Right-wing | Chris Thomas |
| Richard Jones | 13 - Outside-centre | Huw Locke |
| Darryl Cook | 12 - Inside-centre | Lee Mullane |
| Ieuan Morris | 11 - Left-wing | Steffan Sankala |
| Brett Green | 10 - Outside-half | Dean Watkins |
| Rhys Hallett | 9 - Scrum-half | Alun Ford |
| Matthew Lawrence | 8 - Number 8 | Steffan Edwards |
| Dale Taylor | 7 - Openside-flanker | Rhys Watkins |
| Dean Gibbs | 6 - Blindside-flanker | Gary Davies |
| Paul WIlliams | 5 - Second-row | Chris Payne (Captain) |
| Gwyn Morris | 4 - Second-row | Anthony Meads |
| Gareth Miles | 3 - Tighthead-prop | Matthew Griffits |
| Mark Davies | 2 - Hooker | Gareth Davies |
| Gareth Watkins | 1 - Loosehead-prop | Gareth Jones |
| Tim Tillings | Replacement | Matthew Petit |
| Luke Lewis | Replacement | Lee Pearce |
| Nathan Jenkins | Replacement | Sam Feehan |
| Dewi Jones | Replacement | Rob Phillips |
| Matthew Browne | Replacement | Ian Carter |
| Fleur de Lys Scorers | Caerphilly Scorers | |
| Matthew Lawrence (37 & 77 min) | Tries | Gary Davies (23 min), Chris Thomas (65 min) |
| Brett Green (38 & 78 min) | Conversions | Dean Watkins (24 & 66 min) |
| Brett Green (25 min) | Penalties | Dean Watkins (6,40 & 42 min) |
| - | Drop-goals | - |
| - | Yellow cards | Chris Thomas (25 min), Lee Pearce (80 min) |
| - | Red Cards | - |
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