Hartridge 14-16 Caerphilly
Saturday September 9, Newport
Caerphilly continued their winning ways with victory over fellow promotees Hartridge in Division 2 East.
Following on from their opening day 40-35 defeat of Garndiffaith, Caerphilly started brightly in Newport and found themselves on the front-foot in the early stages.
After fly-half Joe Haley had pushed an early penalty attempt wide, both sides were reduced to 14 men as a result of a scuffle.
Haley made no mistake at the second attempt, slotting the ball through the posts.
Shortly after, the Cheesemen lost another man to the sin-bin, as captain Tom Axenderrie was given ten minutes to cool off.
Hartridge made their two-man advantage count, working a catch-and-drive lineout to the five-metre line, before crossing in the corner.
The hosts scored again when Matthew Nuthall’s kick from deep failed to find touch. Hartridge counter-attacked down the left hand side, moving the ball cross-field for a combination of forwards to power over. The try went unconverted as a 12-3 lead was opened up.
Both sides cancelled each other out with the interval approaching, with defensive work coming out on top. Caerphilly had the final say of the first half as Haley was successful from the tee.
After the break, Caerphilly had to withstand early Hartridge pressure while struggling to break down the home defence, and were forced into taking penalties from deep.
Full-back Liam Waters struck a sweet penalty from the half-way line to reduce the deficit, and missed another from a similar position just three minutes later after the referee lost patience with Hartridge’s persistent high tackling.
That indiscipline continued, and the home pack lost its No.8 to the sin-bin after the hour mark. From the resultant penalty, Caerphilly opted for a change in tack and went for a lineout. The catch-and-drive provided dividends, as replacement second-row Lewis Crane drove through to even things up with his try. Haley stepped up and slotted the difficult conversion to give the visitors a slender two-point lead.
Caerphilly were guilty of failing to protect their lead.
Giving away a penalty on the half-way line, Hartridge decided to have a shot at goal with the wind behind them.
The penalty drifted just wide, but the home side were again to be given the same opportunity five minutes into injury time.
Fortunately for the Cheesemen, the attempt missed, and the referee called time on a disjointed performance. However, Caerphilly sit atop Division 2 East, with nine points from the first two matches.
• Match report and photography by Mark Tamplin of Caerphilly RFC.