A tough one to take for the Drovers as they suffer heavy defeat to the trophy and shield holders. With the struggle of the set piece and defence, the cogs weren’t turning for the boys in red and white. Written by Seán Richards, Llandovery RFC Media.
Newport opened up the scoring following a break from the lineout where Hunter Ward found himself over the line. An easy finish for the blind side flanker, but not so easy a conversion for Will Ford who kicked wide for only a 5-0 lead in the third minute.
A slight hesitation came between Ioan Hughes and Llien Morgan but Hughes took accountability and on the switch, Llien Morgan burst into space down the right wing. Delivering a tricky pass into his supporting scrum half, Lucca Settaro controlled excellently with his foot and somehow chased the ball down in time for the try. Ioan Hughes couldn’t quite convert and the game stayed level.
Newport seemed unphased from this as Chay Foster-Smith was next to cross following a scrum in the Drovers own 22’. Winning themselves a scrum penalty a few plays before, they opted for a scrum in the middle of the park which evidently paid off for the outside center. Will Ford added the extras from wide to lead 12-5 in the first fifteen minutes.
The Black and Ambers didn’t stop there as Nick Thomas was next to be in and amongst the tries. His second row partner Ethan Phillips gained back possession with an intercept, but a few phases later, Nick Thomas powered over from close range. A simple conversion from Ford brought the first quarter scores at 19-5 to the home side.
An all important extra point came early as Chay Foster-Smith bagged his second try of the afternoon and bonus point for the Port. Dafydd Buckland broke with some blistering pace, but a wrong decision possibly saw him go on his own. A quick recycle was all it took for Foster-Smith to finish with ease. Will Ford’s conversion attempt struck the post, but a bonus point secured early.
The Drovers responded on the brink of half time as some dogged defence kept out Newport, before going up the other end and Llien Morgan crossing under the posts. An overlap was obvious as the hard work by the backs got the ball out to the winger who broke from around the half way mark to score. No troubles from Ioan Hughes with the conversion as the ball sailed over for half time and the scores 24-12 to Newport.
A very poor performance in the first half for the Llandovery standards, with the set piece not quite there and the defence to go with it. Coming out for the second half, the Drovers had to fix up and take their chances. Their chances so far were from counter attacking rugby to score from far out, the closest they got was a lineout on the 5 meter, but the ball was knocked on in the transition to the maul.
The second half started similarly to the first for the home side with an early try by Hunter Ward who crossed again. A simple try for a forward with a short carry over, Ford’s conversion sailing over made Llandovery’s task even harder to come back in the second half.
Without hanging around, five minutes later the Drovers answered back with a converted try of their own. Dan Gemine crossed with the space forming from a meter out after Tom Phillips was just short. No sign of stopping yet for the Drovers with still half an hour to play.
Unfortunately for Llandovery, neither were the home side as late addition Matt O’Brien delayed play well to send Chay Foster-Smith in for a hat trick try before the hour mark. A very simple finish for his third try and a simple conversion for Will Ford put the lead at 38-19.
A strong maul by Newport brought the next try as the replacement hooker Henry Palmer grabbed himself a try. Another try gained by a scrum penalty which without hesitation went to the corner and paid off well for the Black and Ambers. A wayward conversion from wide for Will Ford, but Newport now 43-19 with the last quarter of an hour to go. Palmer didn’t stop with the maul tries as ten minutes later the home side got another. This time it drifted into midfield for a simple conversion for Will Ford and the fifty point margin was broken at 50-19.
Returning into the Newport side with a bang, Kyle Tayler-Woolston received the pop pass from the initial tackle to slide over the line with ease. Coming back with such a bang, he even had a yellow card as Llandovery broke desperately. The full time score was 57-19 as the SRC Shield remained in east Wales.
The Drovers don’t have time to dwell on this fixture as Ebbw come to Churchbank on Thursday. A third Gwent opposition in a row as the Drovers will need to sharpen up for this one. A rematch of last year’s final and always a high scoring thriller.
Llandovery Starting XV (Coach: Euros Evans)
Tom Phillips, Cam Lewis, Llŷr Green, Morgan Jones, Joe Powell (C), Dan Gemine, Tiaan Sparrow (SCA) , Dom Kossuth (SCA), Lucca Setaro, Ioan Hughes, Corey Baldwin, Tom Hughes, Kian Abraham, Llien Morgan, Jac Davies (SCA).
Replacements
George Roberts (SCA), Dino Dallavalle, Jac Pritchard (SCA), Griff Evans, Ben Evans, Sam Potter, Gryff Watkins (SCA), Josh Thomas.
Newport Starting XV (Coach: Tyron Morris)
Ed Thompson, Wade Langley, Ollie Drake, Nick Thomas (DRA) , Ethan Phillips, Hunter Ward, Josh Reid, Ben Roach (C), Dafydd Buckland, Will Ford (DRA) , Fin Baker, Matt O’Brien , Chay Foster-Smith, Sam Morgan (DRA) , Carwyn Penny.
Replacements
Henry Palmer, Tom Devine, Garin Harris, Joe Peard, Kyle Tayler, Lucus Welch, Joe Salter, Noah Morgan (DRA).
(SCA) Scarlets Academy (DRA) Dragons Academy
Trys
Newport: Hunter Ward x2, Chay Foster-Smith x3, Nick Thomas, Henry Palmer x2, Kyle Tayler-Woolston.
Llandovery: Lucca Setaro, Llien Morgan, Dan Gemine
Conversions
Newport: Will Ford x6
Llandovery: Ioan Hughes x2
Yellow Cards
Newport: Kyle Tayler-Woolston.