Caerphilly 42-18 Fleur-de-Lys
Saturday April 29, Constructaquote Stadium
It took less than a minute for Caerphilly to take the lead in their National League Division 3 East A match against Fleur-de-Lys at the Constructaquote Stadium on the weekend, as they continued their campaign to reach Division 2 East with a bonus-point victory.
From the outset, Caerphilly set their stall out. Collecting from the kick-off, the home side spread the ball wide to an advancing Tom Candy. The full-back caught the Flowers’ defence sleeping as he made the extra man outside to cross under the posts.
The visitors’ outside-half Scott Turner missed an early penalty opportunity, and Fleur were soon subjected to an onslaught. No.8 Josh Hayward capped off Caerphilly’s dominance, bursting through in open-play to score under the posts. Matthew Hurley added the extra two points during a flawless afternoon of kicking.
Turner slotted a penalty to reduce the deficit on 12 minutes, but missed another shortly after. Caerphilly were pinged for repeatedly infringing in defence, and Fleur-de-Lys winger Kris Wheeler grabbed a try from inside the 22-metre area.
Caerphilly’s edginess continued, as the Castlemen were guilty of squandering a handful of good attacks. At the end of the first half, prop Kieran Thomas hit the line at pace, and was unstoppable from five-metres out. Caerphilly had their third try, and Hurley’s conversion was successful.
Just minutes into the second half, and with the scores at 21-8, the hosts showed resilience to break down a Fleur attack in their own 22-metre area and race down the wing. Centre Cyle Powell, playing in his first senior game, was on hand to cross in the corner as he left the visiting defence for dead. Hurley converted well in a swirling wind.
Despite having to defend stoutly during a strong period for the visitors, Caerphilly scored twice in quick succession through flanker Josh Williams and scrum-half Joe Bray for a 42-8 lead.
The Flowers, to their credit, were not finished, and grabbed two tries of their own in the final ten minutes as they camped on Caerphilly’s line. When the hosts were reduced to 14 men, Wheeler scored his second before captain Ross Dimmock crossed the whitewash. Both tries went unconverted as Caerphilly drew level with Oakdale – their midweek opponents – in the league table.