Late cross from Williams secures Cardiff two losing bonus points.
Despite a late try from Benji Williams, it proved not to be enough as Llandovery triumphed 48-43 in a 14-try thriller over Cardiff.
Before kickoff, there was a moment of reflection as the Arms Park remembered Alun Priday, Cliff Howe, Cenydd Williams and Brian Jones.
Llandovery’s Sam Potter got the action underway, and it didn’t take long for the Blue and Blacks to make an immediate impact. After a brilliant turnover from Dewi Cross, it was followed by a quick offload to Tom Bowen, who kicked in behind the Drovers’ defence.
Then, inside centre, Steffan Emanuel won the footrace as he crossed over for the opening try of the afternoon. The hosts then found themselves on the front foot again as fullback, Matty Young broke through Llandovery’s defence. Harri Wilde’s boot was instrumental as he spotted space on the outside and put in a brilliant crossfield kick, which played into the hands of Young, who scored his seventh try of the season.
The Drovers then responded accordingly, crossing over for their opening try on 11 minutes. Scrum-half Lee Rees made a break and then offloaded to Llien Morgan, who scored. The Blue and Blacks lead then narrowed even more as Joe Powell crossed over in the corner and after 15 minutes, the deficit was just five points. However, there was an early replacement after the visitors scored as try scorer Steffan Emanuel was replaced by Joe Goodchild.
Fullback Matty Young was of great use in the making of the hosts’ third of the afternoon after a brilliant take under the highball. After some excellent handling, Jason Harries scored his fifth try of the season. The Blue and Blacks then showcased some outstanding defence as they held the visitors out for an extended period at the beginning of the second quarter.
Despite more defensive skills being on display, after a catch and drive, a few phases followed and blindside, Osian Davies powered over. The visitors found themselves in the Blue and Blacks 22 again as Llien Morgan claimed their fourth of the afternoon after scoring in the corner. Jack Maynard added the extras, which meant that after 25 minutes, the visitors gained the lead for the first time.
There was another early replacement for the hosts as after a long break in play Dewi Cross was replaced by Joe Williams who dropped onto the wing. Llandovery’s lead grew even more before the half an hour mark, and this came from some brilliant thinking around the lineout which allowed loosehead, Jamie Hughes to power over.
Despite this, the hosts finished a very entertaining opening 40 the better as Matty Young claimed his brace after showing impressive footwork. Outside half, Harri Wilde added the extras to make it a one-point game going in at the break.
HT: Cardiff 26-27 Llandovery
Just like the first half, the hosts started quickly as they regained the lead for the first time since the 25th minute. Joe Goodchild put the Blue and Blacks in a great attacking position which was then followed by Harri Wilde utilising his boot yet again with a brilliant crossfield kick.
This then allowed replacement Joe Williams to gather and step back inside to claim his fourth try of the season. On 50 minutes, that lead was no more for the hosts as Osian Davies ran a brilliant line to score his second of the match. The visitor then added to their lead as outside-half, Sam Potter crossed after a brilliant pass from his counterpart in the half-backs, Lee Rees.
With time running out, Jac Davies crossed over which meant at the time of the score the visitors had claimed an extra bonus point. However, Harri Wilde converted a penalty which took that extra bonus point from the Drovers. Then, with the clock deep into the red, Benji Williams showed his pace as he ran from over 50 metres to score his third of the season and also claimed the Blue and Blacks two losing bonus points.
FT: Cardiff 43-48 Llandovery