Llanelli Wanderers Rugby Football Club

Affiliated to: The Welsh Rugby Union, West Wales Rugby Union, and the Llanelli & District Rugby Union

MATCH REPORT

LOUGHOR v LLANELLI WANDERERS 3/1/04

Saturday saw the eagerly awaited top of the table clash with Loughor. Unfortunately, the age-old cliché of a “game of two halves” was never more appropriate. The Wanderers failed to get any momentum in the first 35 minutes and Loughor must have been surprised to find how easy they were able to penetrate a Wanderers defence which had been so frugal for most of the season.

The Loughor mid field trio were certainly looking a class act during this period and were instrumental in setting up a 28 points to 3 lead. The solitary comfort for the Wanderers being a penalty by outside half Richard Clement, who unfortunately was forced to leave the field shortly afterwards.

The half did however close with the Wanderers playing some positive rugby and taking the game to their hosts. H.T. 28 – 3.

The Wanderers continued the momentum into the second half and were unfortunate when, against the run of play, they lost possession of the ball resulting in a penalty conversion for Loughor. Poor handling by the Wanderers was compounded by some weak tackling which allowed the Loughor outside half to waltz through for a try under the posts. The conversion was surprisingly missed.

Now trailing 36-3, it was expected that the flood gates would open but , to their credit, the players dug deep to put some excellent rugby together.

The boiler house of Dorian Lee and Gavin Mathias were making some storming runs at the heart of the Loughor defence and were well supported by the rest of the forwards who were now also experiencing complete dominance at the scrums.

The driving and rucking game finally resulted in a period of pressure and a try for scrum half Andrew Jenkins, who was, for the second week running, a tower of strength behind his forwards. Gareth Rees was successful with the conversion.

Following a lapse in concentration, Loughor were gifted a soft try from a kick ahead but the Wanderers kept their spirit and with the last passage of play produced a superb try from their own half with Oliver Day and Karl Evans involved and finally feeding the speed merchant Rhys Haries to cross under the posts. Rhys is certainly fleet of foot, but a kicker he is not, as he proceeded to miss the conversion.

With a first half score of 28-3 and a second half score of 13-12, players and supporters were left to reflect on what might have been if we had turned up for the first half hour.

After 2 heavy defeats the players will need to dig deep and I`m sure they will show the resolve to get the show back on the road and ensure promotion for a third successive season.

FINAL SCORE:                     LOUGHOR  41         LANELLI WANDERERS 15.

Wanderers –            TRIES:                       A.JENKINS, R.HARRIES

                        Conversion:               G. REES

                        Penalty:                     R. CLEMENT

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