Seconds Come Close  - 1/28/2012 - KENFIG HILL

KENFIG KILL 36 LLANHARAN 31 (HT 24-7)
Despite trailing 24-7 at half time, Llanharan Seconds came close to snatching an unlikely win at Kenfig Hill, actually leading 31-29 with three minutes to play.
Paul Winter’s team were slow to start but thereafter looked a dangerous combination with the pack working well.
They had a potent axis in halfbacks Ross Pritchard and Carl Jenkins along with centre Nicky Bees.
Jenkins was in fact named as official man of the match, his penetrating runs creating a number of openings.
Bees got two tries and there were touch downs for prop John Cater, and centre John Howe.
Harley Thomson, released by Pontypridd, converted all four and put over a penalty.
The match was played with uncontested scrums, a situation brought about by WRU rules after Llanharan’s 1st XV were forced to take this option through a front row injury crisis.
Despite defeat, Llanharan took two bonus points from the game.

Scott wins It  - 1/28/2012 - St Peters (ED Cup)

EAST DISTRICT YOUTH CUP
LLANHARAN YOUTH 3 ST PETERS 0
A second half penalty from outside half Scott Jones, who controlled play well throughout, was enough to see Llanharan through this East District cup fixture.
The pack did well against a strong visiting unit with number eight Simon Pring’s efforts earning him the official Man of the Match title.
He was well supported by the likes of front row man Gethin Cashmore, whilst behind them centre Alex Hughes and his wings Tom Jenkins and Jack Wensley often showed up well.
Coach Clinton Davis praised his team, applauding the hunger to win displayed in the second half as they resisted St Peter’s attempts to win the tie.

One of those days!  - 1/28/2012 - NEWBRIDGE/SWALEC CUP

SWALEC CUP ROUND TWO
LLANHARAN 14 NEWBRIDGE 45 (HT 7-26)
Llanharan were dumped out of the Swalec cup in emphatic style in a game that was played throughout with unopposed scrums.
The situation came about after injuries left the home club without recognised props.
The WRU rules dictate that the game goes ahead without scrummaging as long as the opposition agrees, but the defaulting team suffers the sanction of having no replacements.
The Dairymen’s problems were compounded further when centre Nathan Rees pulled a hamstring in the warm up, so they actually played the opening ten minutes with fourteen men until Youth skipper James Langdon was hastily withdraw from his own game on the nearby Welfare Ground to take a belated place in the backs.
Newbridge weren’t long taking advantage as dangerous centre Ryan Lee finished off a move to the right and Neil Burnett converted.
But even when full strength, Llanharan lacked conviction, despite the fact that both teams were now evenly matched under the same restrictions and, despite plenty of effort from the pack, there were too many open field gaps, eagerly exploited by the Gwent club.
They ran in three more tries before half time courtesy of Lee’s second, wing David Dyer and prop Geoff Lewin, Burnett converting two.
However, at 26-0 Llanharan suddenly found inspiration, and after a multi phased build-up Justin Benfield strode through to give Chris Williams a straight forward conversion and complete the first half scoring.
They were a better team after the restart, but with Newbridge freshening their line up with seven replacements tired legs began to tell, and two more tries put the game beyond reach, Dean Gibbs crashing over from a lineout and left wing Andrew Bevan finishing after hooker Darren Hughes’s barnstorming run.
Yet despite trailing 38-7, Llanharan again found amazing reserves of stamina and attacked strongly.
Nick Eaves drove at the East One side’s line and then Codey Rees, their best back on the day, caused problems before indefatigable skipper Nathan Huish got the touchdown, Williams converting
They still looked capable of making the score line respectable as Mike Thomas was ruled held up over the line by Swansea official Alan Jenkins, but an attack broke down and replacement Tom Edwards’ try ended their aspirations for Burnett to complete the scoring with the kick.
LLANHARAN:
15 MIKE THOMAS
14 LOREN QUICK
13 RHYS LAKIN
12 JAMES LANGDON
11 JOSH AUSTIN
10 CODEY REES
9 CHRIS WILLIAMS
1 NICK EAVES
2 RHYS CLEVERLY
3 NATHAN HUISH (CAPT.)
4 BILL CAREY
5 ANDREW ROSEN
6 NIKKI ALLEN
7 SCOTT MALONE
8 JUSTIN BENFIELD
Our tries- Justin Benfield, Nathan Huish. Cons 2 – Chris Williams.
Newbridge tries – Ryan Lee 2, David Dyer, Andrew Bevan, Geoff Lewin, Dean Gibbs, Tom Edwards. Cons 5 – Neil Burnett.

These are the 3 most recent match reports posted. Older reports are in the archive