Caerphilly 40-35 Garndiffaith
Saturday, September 2, Constructaquote Stadium
Caerphilly RFC marked their return to the National League Division 2 East with a well-fought win at home, crossing the whitewash on six occasions.
In a topsy-turvy game where the home side had an extensive upper hand in the first half, the visitors exerted their forward presence in the second to make it a tight finish.
It took Caerphilly just three minutes to score their first try, securing possession from the kick off and running down the left wing. Some speculative passing made dividends as flanker Lewis Crane was on hand to cross under the posts and give a simple conversion to outside-half Joe Haley.
With the sun shining, the home side returned to the running rugby that earned them promotion last season. It was this direct attacking rugby that caught the visitors off guard as winger Lewys Willacott produced the next try with just seven minutes on the clock, weaving his way down the left wing following good attacking play from the forwards. Haley again added the spoils.
A solitary penalty from the Garndiffaith scrum-half threatened to spoil the party as the Caerphilly forwards were adjusted to have prevented the player from releasing the ball on the floor. However the home side were unrelenting in their attack, and following a breakdown in the 22-metre area, Haley spotted space out wide. Putting in a cross-field kick, the ball fell to player-coach 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 as he burst through to give the home side a 26-3 lead before the visitors reduced the deficit by three points with some overzealous ball rucking from the home side.
A yellow card for one of the Garndiffaith flanker Mark Lear reduced their ranks to 14, and from the resultant penalty, the home side found themselves attacking again out wide before being awarded a penalty try and a 33-6 lead.
The return of 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 the interval.
The second half saw the visitors exert forward pressure on the Caerphilly pack and with their numbers back to full strength, a forward drive produced a try for Davies, with his brother adding the spoils on 45 minutes.
Caerphilly were forced into some changes and as the game ebbed and flowed Nuthall grabbed his hatrick following a break from deep inside his own 22-metre area. Haley converted for a 40-23 lead, but the visitors pushed hard for the remaining 20 minutes, and set up a tense final-quarter as they crossed on 63 and 72 minutes.
• Match report by Mark Tamplin of Caerphilly RFC.