Ebbw Vale 25 v 26 Whites
01 Sep 2007 - Away: Eugene Cross Park
Swansea held off a late Ebbw Vale comeback to seal an impressive opening day victory at Eugene Cross Park. The match will be remembered mainly for a stamp which earned Vale lock Neil Edwards a red card and un unfortunate injury to Swansea captain Gareth Newman who appeared to sustain a torn Achilles tendon after he ducked into a strong tackle.
At fly half for the home side was former Swansea man Aaron Bramwell whilst the Whites handed competitive debuts to Andrew Joy, Gavin Ronan, Matthew Evans and Richard Kelly. The Whites started poorly as Adrian Thomas gifted the home side attacking possession with a loose kick. Kristian Owen, Nio Aiono and Anthony Lott threatened before the Swansea defence transgressed and Bramwell succeeded with a penalty.
An excellent lineout steal by Ronan earned the Whites a penalty after the home side crept offside. Ricky Williams levelled the scores with a comfortable strike. Newman was then stretchered off the field, replaced by Steffan Edwards.
An excellent break by Bramwell, who ghosted past the Whites defence, was well supported by James Lewis who forced the Swansea to kill the ball. Bramwell was successful with the penalty goal.
Arguably the turning point of the game occurred after 36 minutes as Vale lock Edwards was sent off for a stamp. Five minutes later, Swansea made the home side pay after a magical inside pass by Damian Karauna sent Adrian Thomas on a run before he switched play to find the scoring Nicky Jones. Williams missed the conversion from out wide.
On the stroke of half time, Karauna sent over a drop goal after a good drive by Andrew Clatworthy and a pass by Adrian Thomas.
Half-Time:- Ebbw Vale 6 Swansea 11
Swansea almost scored five minutes into the second half as a superb chip through by Karauna almost sent in Ricky Williams but he was adjudged to knock forward over the line. Swansea stole the resulting scrum but Edwards also spilled the ball over the line. The visitors maintained the pressure though and earned another scrum five from which Edwards finally claimed a pushover try. Williams missed the conversion.
A forward pass by Chris Shelmerdine spoiled an exciting move that almost led to a score after good work by Edwards and Adrian Thomas. Swansea almost scored again in the corner but crossing between Ronan and Joy put an end to the move.
Ricky Williams was caught behind his own line after failing to clear and from the resulting Vale penalty Bramwell chipped into touch. From the lineout the ball was fed out to Owen who wrong footed the defence to score under the posts. Bramwell converted.
Excellent play by the Swansea backs exposed an overlap and it took a last gasp defensive effort from Bramwell to thwart the pacy Leigh Bevan. From the lineout, Edwards was driven over for his second try of the match with Williams converting.
Karauna took the Whites into a 13-point lead with a drop goal after a good build up by the forwards. Two minutes from time, the home side scored from close range through Lott but the Bramwell sliced the vital conversion wide.
Ricky Williams failed with a late penalty after the home side killed a Swansea attack and it was Vale who had the final word with a superb late try through Ross Watts after a good run by Andrew McLaughlin. Bramwell converted and ensured Vale gained a bonus point from the match.
Swansea coach Richard Webster was happy overall with the victory: “It was a close game and we worked very hard for the victory with our training sessions paying off.
“Eugene Cross Park is always a tough place to come to and we feel we deserved the win.
“We will have to work even harder at Pontypridd next week and must cut out on the silly errors that let Ebbw Vale back in at the end.”
Full-Time:- Ebbw Vale 25 Swansea 26
Venue:- Eugene Cross Park, Ebbw Vale
Weather:- Cloudy, 20C
Competition:- Principality Premiership
Ebbw Vale Scorers:- Bramwell (2 Pens, 2 Cons), Owen (Try), Lott (Try), Watts (Try)
Swansea Scorers:- R. Williams (Pen, Con), N. Jones (Try), Karauna (2 DGs), Edwards (2 Tries)
Swansea Team:- 15 R. Williams 14 L. Bevan 13 C. Shelmerdine 12 A. Thomas (rep: D. Watts) 11 N. Jones 10 D. Karauna 9 D. Pittard (rep: P. Tucker) 1 C. Williams 2 A. Joy (rep: D. Colclough) 3 A. Clatworthy 4 G. Ronan (rep: D. Lloyd-Jones) 5 R. Kelly 6 M. Popham 7 M. Evans 8 G. Newman (rep: S. Edwards)
By Paul Hopkins
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