Neath 29 v 5 Whites
30 Dec 2006 - Away
Swansea were made to pay for their failure to take advantage of a great deal of early possession and territory as Neath defended well and thwarted the All Whites throughout a frustrating first half with former Llanelli Scarlets fly half Gareth Bowen in fine form. Centre David Watts was the pick of the Swansea side as he never took a backward step throughout, and the pack actually managed to dominate the first hour of the match! However, the experience of Bowen along with a man of the match display by centre Stephen Thomas guided Neath home for their seventh consecutive win over the Whites.
Neath started well and were awarded a penalty after only two minutes, although Bowen hit the post with his attempt at goal. Swansea responded well and kept Neath pegged back inside their own twenty-two before earning a penalty after an illegal shoulder charge. Nicky Thomas' penalty attempt was well wide though.
Bowen finally got the home side on the scoreboard with a penalty goal after Swansea killed a Neath attack. Four minutes later, disaster struck for Swansea as Gareth Newman failed to take a Watts pass and Neath broke clear through Jonathan Spratt, who sent in Stephen Thomas for a superb try. Bowen converted.
Swansea offside in midfield gave Bowen a difficult penalty chance from halfway, but he succeeded to the delight of the home crowd. Holding on the ground as well as backchat by the Whites gave Bowen another penalty but for once he made a complete mess of the chance. Not allowing the release of possession gifted Bowen yet another penalty, and coupled with further Swansea backchat, gifted Bowen three points.
Whites prop Tom Snelgrove was sent to the sin-bin on the stroke of half time after preventing a quick tap penalty after Swansea collapsed a maul. Bowen converted a simple chance to take the Welsh All Blacks into a 19-0 half time lead.
Half-Time:- Neath 19 Swansea 0
Swansea, determined to put things right in the second half, began well and were held up over the line after a powerful drive by the pack. A kickable penalty soon followed but the Whites opted to kick for touch, although they were soon turned over and Neath were able to clear their lines.
Stephen Thomas ghosted past two Swansea tacklers and fed winger Richard Johnston who scored a well executed try in the corner. Bowen converted. The All Blacks were awarded another penalty after the Whites defence crept offside in the ruck and Bowen duly converted.
Late on in the second half, Swansea finally got their just rewards with hooker Ashley James crashing over in the corner after the pack secured good turnover ball. Ricky Williams missed the conversion.
The margin and eventual ease of victory will disappoint the Swansea coaching staff although there were certainly positives to be taken out of the game, not least the powerful display by the pack and the determination not to let the All Blacks record a high scoring victory. Despite the ill discipline that plagued the first half, the defence was generally in good shape and only allowed Neath to breach the line twice. Next up for Swansea is a tough home match against Cardiff, with the Blue and Blacks determined to avenge their narrow loss at the Arms Park back in September.
Full-Time:- Neath 29 Swansea 5
Venue:- The Gnoll, Neath
Competition:- Principality Premiership
Neath Scorers:- Bowen (5 Pens, 2 Cons), S. Thomas (Try), Johnston (Try)
Swansea Scorers:- James (Try)
Swansea Team:- 15 Nicky Thomas (rep: A. Thomas) 14 L. Bevan (rep: R. Jones) 13 R. Payne 12 D. Watts 11 N. Jones 10 R. Williams 9 I. Mainwaring (rep: D. Pittard) 1 L. May 2 A. James (rep: D. Colclough) 3 T. Snelgrove 4 Noel Thomas (rep: D. Lloyd-Jones) 5 I. Evans 6 S. Kiley (rep: C. Williams) 7 H. Singh (rep: B. Lewis) 8 G. Newman
By Paul Hopkins
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