Bridgend 6 v 20 Whites
03 Mar 2007 - St Helens
Swansea made light of their recent relegation fight with a superb 80-minute display against fellow Osprey feeder club Bridgend. Ospreys Academy scrum half Martin Roberts started for the Whites and thoroughly deserved his man of the match award as his lightening quick service to the backs showed why he has been touted as a future Welsh international. The whole team performed admirably and dominated throughout despite being reduced to 14 men prior to half time after hooker Ashleigh James was red carded for his part in a fight. The victory was a fourth in a row in all competitions and takes the Whites six points clear of the drop zone.
Ospreys Director of Rugby and former All White favourite Kevin Hopkins was in the crowd to witness an exciting spectacle of rugby that was originally delayed by ten minutes due to a clash of kit colours! It was actually the visitors who started the brighter with centre Gareth David successful with a third minute penalty after Swansea were offside in a maul.
A strong run by David Watts, followed by a well weighted chip into the corner by Damian Karauna nearly sent in Noel Thomas, but he was tackled short of the line and the move broke down. A massive hit by Habir Singh prevented a dangerous Bridgend attack and good forward play earned Swansea a vital clearing penalty.
A high tackle on Watts gave Swansea a penalty which Ricky Williams duly converted to tie the scores. Two minutes later, good work by Gareth David, Marvin Thomas and Roger Davies forced Ricky Williams to take the ball over his own line. Bridgend were unable to take advantage of the situation though and gave away a penalty for diving over the top.
Karauna took the home side into the lead with a superb drop goal after a quality build up involving James and Nicky Jones. Ten minutes later, a fight broke out involving the two hookers after a collapsed scrum. Andrew Joy was yellow carded, whilst James was shown the red card by referee James Jones. On the stroke of half time, Swansea were guilty of killing the ball and Gareth David put over a penalty from inside his own half.
Half-Time:- Swansea 6 Bridgend 6
The Whites retook the lead immediately after the interval through a Ricky Williams penalty after the Ravens killed the ball. A late tackle by winger Richard Radford gifted Swansea another penalty and Williams again converted, this time from out wide.
Offside by the visitors provided Williams another penalty chance but this time he was off target. A controversial decision by the touch judge who ruled Mathew Hutchings took the ball dead after an excellent Nicky Jones chase. From the resulting scrum, excellent play by Nicky Jones set up a dangerous attack but Watts fired a loose pass straight into touch.
The first try of the match came after 65 minutes after a strong run by flanker Ben Lewis took out two tacklers and freed space for a superb offload to Chris Shelmerdine who scored with ease. Williams missed the conversion.
Bridgend were lucky not to have a player sin-binned after a cynical late tackle on Karauna after he a superb piece of invention where he chipped through the defence. However, Williams made the Ravens pay with his fourth penalty of the afternoon. Excellent runs by Andrew Williams and Radford nearly grabbed the Ravens a consolation try but the winger was tackled just short of the line.
The win for Swansea takes them six points clear of the drop zone and takes their winning streak up to four. The whole team contributed to the impressive victory and if they can continue playing in that fashion then Whites fans should look forward to an exciting close to the season. Whilst survival in the league is of paramount importance, this win will ease the pressure and allow the side to concentrate on winning the Cup for the first time since the Rebel Season.
Full-Time:- Swansea 20 Bridgend 6
Venue:- St. Helen's, Swansea
Weather:- Sunny, 11C
Competition:- Principality Premiership
Referee:- James Jones
Swansea Scorers:- R. Williams (4 Pens), Karauna (DG), Shelmerdine (Try)
Bridgend Scorers:- G. David (2 Pens)
Swansea Team:- 15 R. Williams 14 L. Bevan 13 C. Shelmerdine 12 D. Watts 11 N. Jones 10 D. Karauna 9 M. Roberts 1 L. May (rep: M. Jones) 2 A. James 3 C. Williams 4 D. Lloyd-Jones 5 N. Thomas (rep: I. Evans) 6 H. Singh (rep: D. Colclough) 7 B. Lewis 8 G. Newman
By Paul Hopkins
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