Oakdale 5 – 8 Caerphilly
Saturday December 10
WRU National Bowl Round Four
Caerphilly RFC progressed to the fifth round of the WRU National Bowl competition for the first time in ten years with a hard-fought 8-5 win over Oakdale at the Recreational Ground, their second victory over the league leaders this season.
The rain that had been forecast overnight arrived just before kick-off, producing conditions that were not conducive to running rugby and which led to an inordinate amount of knock-ons.
Caerphilly spent the first quarter of the match camped in the Oakdale half, but failed to register a single point as worsening conditions and poor handling put pay to several chances.
The best chance presented itself after just six minutes when Oakdale’s pack was reduced to seven men, following a late tackle on Caerphilly full-back Tom Candy.
Caerphilly pushed the home side off their own fed scrum and the ball was quickly cycled through the backs, but slipped from centre Simon Skinner’s hands inches from the line.
Oakdale came close themselves on the half hour mark, as a Caerphilly clearance was taken in by the home side’s full-back, who found space to race down the wing, only to stopped short of the line with a last-ditch tackle by Candy.
The scores remained level at 0-0 at half time.
The second-half started in the same vein as the first, with Caerphilly on the attack. Ten minutes after the break, winger Will Worthington pulled up injured when chasing a scoring opportunity and was replaced by Dewi Jones.
Five minutes later, Caerphilly were given their first chance at points as the home side were called offside during another Castlemen attack. Matthew Hurley made no mistake in converting for the first three points of the game.
The match finally came alive on 70 minutes, as the visitors broke from deep. Hurley kicked the ball ahead, and as the covering Oakdale full-back attempted to collect the bouncing ball he slipped in the mud, missing the ball, and replacement winger Jones was on hand touch down over the line.
Hurley missed the conversion, but Caerphilly had a two-score cushion.
Oakdale were spurned into action, and they got their reward with a try on 75 minutes. After the visitors were called up for straying offside, Oakdale took a quick penalty to score unopposed in the corner, and set up a tense finish.
Try as the home side may, the conditions were against them. Three opportunities went begging as the ball spilt in contact, and with the final whistle Caerphilly booked their place in the last 16.
• Match report and photography by Mark Tamplin of Caerphilly RFC.