Fixture

Following promotion last year Caerphilly RFC marked their return to the Welsh National Division 2 East with a well fought 40-35 win home at the Constructaquote Stadium in Caerphilly gaining an additional bonus point, crossing the whitewash on 6 occasions. In a topsy-turvy game where the home side had an extensive upper hand in the first half, yet the visitors exerted their forward presence in the second. It took the home side 3 minutes to score their first try as the home side secured possession from the kick off, running down the left wing. Some speculative passing gained dividends as flanker Lewis Crane was on hand to receive a pass from full back Liam Waters to cross under the posts giving a simple conversion to outside half Joe Haley and a dream start. With the sun shining as a bright sunny day marked the start of the season the home side returned to the running rugby that earned them promotion, attempting to run from anywhere on the pitch. It was this direct attacking rugby that caught the visitors off guard. Left wing Lewys Willacott produced the next try with just 7 minutes on the clock as he weaved his way down the left wing following good attacking play from the forwards through the heart of the Garn defence, Haley again adding the spoils. A solitude penalty from the Garndiffaith scrum half almost immediately from the restart threatened to spoil the party, as the Caerphilly forwards were adjusted to have failed to let a visiting player release the ball on the floor. However the home side were unrelenting in their attack. Following a breakdown in another attack in the 22, Haley spotted space out wide. Putting in a cross field kick that very nearly went backwards, the ball fell to player coach and winger Matthew Nuthall who crossed out wide for the first of his hat-trick of tries. Nuthall was again on hand at the 17 minute mark to score his second try as he burst through to give the home side a 26-3 lead following another successful conversion by Haley before the visitors reduced the deficit by 3 points with some overzealous ball rucking from the home side. A yellow card for one of the Garndiffaith flankers reduced their player count to 14 following a stray elbow in a lineout as the visitors cleared their lines following another attack. From the resultant penalty, the home side failed to gain advantage but found themselves attacking again out wide before being awarded a penalty try and the left wing departing for the sin bin having stopped an inevitable try and a 33-6 lead. The return of Mark Lear from the sin bin gave the visitors a boost on the cusp of half time as the flanker crossed for a converted try to reduce Caerphilly’s lead to 33-13 at half time. The second half saw the visitors exert forward pressure on the Caerphilly pack and proved dividends. With their numbers back to full strength a forward drive produced a try for A Davies his brother adding the spoils on 45 minutes, clawing their way back into the game, Davies adding another penalty on 51 minutes, Game On. Caerphilly were forced into some changes and as the game ebbed and flowed Nuthall grabbed his hatrick following a break from deep inside their own 22, Haley converting to leave a lead of 40-23. The visitors pushed hard for the remaining 20 minutes setting up a tense final quarter as they crossed on 63 and 72 minutes, but ran out of time eventually before referee called time on their mammoth effort.