Fixture

Hartridge RFC | 1st Team 14 - 16 Caerphilly RFC | 1st Team
Lewis Crane
1 Try
Joseph Adam Haley
1 Conversion
2 Penalty
Liam Waters
1 Penalty

Match Report
12 September 2017 / Team News

Caerphilly Break The Hearts

Caerphilly continued their winning ways with their first victory over Hartridge in 3 attempts defeating them in a close-run game by the narrowest of 2 points which appears to be the norm against the Newport side, all 3 games finishing with the same margin.

Caerphilly started brightly and found themselves attacking in the first 3 minutes. An offside gave outside half Joe Haley an early shot at goal which he pushed just wide. On 9 minutes with Caerphilly attacking a scuffle broke out the referee decided to take immediate action and sin binned Caerphilly’s new second row signing Damien Adams and the Hartridge scrum half to show the players that he was out for business and would not tolerate any nonsense. Haley stepped up and made no mistake this time slotting the ball between the posts to give the visitors an early lead.

Caerphilly found themselves down to 13 men just minutes later as Hartridge attacked from deep down the left, this time captain Tom Axenderrie was given 10 minutes of thought in the bin. Working their way to the 5 mtr line the Gwent side eventually went over in the corner following a catch and drive, the conversion giving them a cushion.

With Caerphilly still reduced to 13 a kick from deep by centre Matthew Nuthall failed to find touch down the left and the home side counter attacked. Moving left then right a break through from the home hooker eventually released the big Hartridge flanker who used his pace and size to power over behind the defence for another converted try.

Both sides huffed and puffed for the remainder of the half, cancelling each other out with neither side finding the ability to break each other’s defence down in the final third. Caerphilly hand the last points of the first half as they opted for a penalty in front of the posts on 37 minutes.

The second half saw the Green and White’s finally exert some seniority on the game despite some early pressure from the home side. Caerphilly struggled to break down the home defence within their own half and were forced into taking penalties from deep, the first a half way conversion from Liam Waters to reduce the deficit. The full back missed with a similar penalty just 3 minutes later as the referee lost patience with the home side following some persistent high talking around the neck. With both side ringing in the changes the game became a little disjointed, to Caerphilly’s benefit.

Waters missed 2 more long range penalties on 60 and 63 minutes respectively frustrating the visitors as they blew the opportunity to gain the advantage. Indiscipline eventually became the home sides nemesis as the referee eventually lost patience with the persistent offending eventually removing the Hartridge no.8 to the bin. From the resultant penalty following another high tackle the Caerphilly side changed tact and opted for a lineout. The catch and drive provided dividends as replacement second row Lewis Crane drove through to get the score equalling try, Haley adding the difficult kick to give the visiting side a 2-point lead.

Caerphilly were guilty of failing to protect their lead. Giving away a penalty on the Hartridge 5 mtr line they gave another on the half way line from the resulting lineout. With the wind behind them the home team decided on a shot at goal, which went just wide only to be given the same opportunity 5 minutes into injury time with the same result. The referee finally blew full time with almost 7 additional minutes on the clock to give the visitors a 100% record in the league so far and a vital victory in their season campaign.

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