Bedwas 13 v 15 Whites

26 Dec 2009 - St Helen's

Swansea earned a hard fought victory over a powerful Bedwas side in a scrappy affair which was littered with mistakes. The visitors will count themselves unlucky after dominating the game up front but it was the Whites who held their nerve in the end to temporarily reach the summit of the Premiership.

Bedwas came out of the blocks first after prop Andrew Clatworthy spilled the ball forward allowing Tom Cooper and Phil Sargent to orchestrate a counterattack. Mathew Pizey chipped forward only for Kieran Crawford to lose possession.

The Whites’ struggled to cope with the visitors’ pack throughout the match and this was typified in the 13th minute when Bedwas drove their opponents back over their own line. From the attacking scrum five former All White Hywel Jenkins was driven over for a try. Gethin Worgan failed to convert.

Good work by Luke Jones and Ben Lewis forced Bedwas offside in midfield and James Dixon duly converted the penalty goal. Offside in the ruck by the visitors gave the Whites another penalty chance but this time full back Nicky Thomas failed.

When the Bedwas forwards piled into a ruck from the wrong side Dixon had another penalty chance but he pulled it wide. On the stroke of half time prop Dan Watchurst was spoken to for giving away too many penalties but Swansea were unable to make anything of the attacking position.

Half time:- Swansea 3 Bedwas 5

Two minutes into the second half Bedwas a dangerous attack together with Deri Mattravers powering through two tackles to send Tom Edwards and Jamie Jones across the Swansea twenty-two. Holding on after the tackle gave the home side a chance to clear though. Bedwas’ early pressure soon paid off after a Cooper break and a chip through by Pizey sent full back Andrew McLoughlin over in the corner. Worgan failed to convert.

Swansea managed to find a way back into the match after replacement Huw Alford stole lineout ball before half breaks by David Watts and Steffan Jones earned a penalty. Dixon chipped to touch and from the lineout the ball was fed out to winger Hanno Dirksen who scored under the posts. Dixon converted.

Bedwas retook the lead on 64 minutes after the home side were guilty of killing the ball. Worgan kicked the penalty goal. Three minutes later McLoughlin was sent to the sin bin for handling in the ruck. It was then left to Nicky Thomas to have the final say after a well worked lineout and superb break by Chris Shelmerdine sent the full back side stepping over in the corner. Dixon’s conversion fell short of the posts.

The win keeps Swansea at the top of the Premiership although a Neath victory over Aberavon this evening will see them retain the prime spot going into the New Year. Next up for Swansea is a crunch derby match at Llanelli while Bedwas host Aberavon.

Full time:- Swansea 15 Bedwas 13

Venue:- St Helen’s, Swansea
Weather:- Sunny, 9C
Competition:- Principality Premiership
Referee:- Colin Kirkhouse
Swansea scorers:- Dixon (Pen, Con), Dirksen (Try), N Thomas (Try)
Bedwas scorers:- H Jenkins (Try), McLoughlin (Try), Worgan (Pen)

Man of the match:- Luke Jones (Swansea)

Swansea team:- 15 N Thomas 14 R Jones 13 C Shelmerdine 12 D Watts (rep: A Thomas) 11 H Dirksen 10 J Dixon 9 R Wells (rep: P Tucker) 1 L May (rep: T Evans) 2 S Baldwin (rep: A Joy) 3 A Clatworthy (rep: R Davies) 4 J Goode (rep: H Alford) 5 R Kelly 6 L Jones 7 B Lewis 8 S Jones (rep: D Blyth)


By Paul Hopkins