Cardiff V Neath
29th November 2003

MATCH REPORT

CARDIFF 9 NEATH 34 (by Phil Space)

Salute the Blacks !

A capital display by Neath saw the first half of the Premier League programme safely negotiated with an 8 out of 8, 100 per cent away record and those supporters who regularly follow the side on their travels have certainly had their loyalty rewarded this term.

"Evil and mean" was how one of the Sundays described Neath's performance so we must be playing well - as Brian Thomas always says once the Press start getting at us we know we're doing things right. Actually, it wasn't particularly evil (one clumsy tackle by Hywel Jenkins apart !) but it was mean in that Neath gave Cardiff nothing.

Cardiff were blown away by another superb forward performance as the Neath forwards caused numerous turnovers. But it was not just about forwards as the five tries to nil showed.

Four of the scores were the product of genuine high quality back play and full back Paul Bamsey got two of them. Those scored by Richard Johnston and Matthew Jones followed excellent passing too. John McPhail's effort owed much to traditional Neath driving qualities but that too was a classic of its type.

Matthew Jones banged over a penalty and three conversions for good measure and Cardiff 's points came via three penalties by Gareth McCarthy. The game was over by halftime really but Neath (and a word of praise here for the replacements !) refused to let Cardiff pass and one eminent Cardiff committeeman was heard to say, "They may be a new team but they're Neath all right."

Neath now have three home games to negotiate - none of them easy - and wouldn't it be great if the fans come along in big numbers to support ?

Llandovery on Saturday (2.30pm) will be tough because the Drovers have had some good wins recently and drew with a Llanelli side augmented by Messrs. Thiel, Emyr Lewis and Boobyer.

So get down to The Gnoll and persuade those mates of yours who haven't been yet this year. The Premier is alive and kicking, so are Neath !

Neath :- P.Bamsey; R.Carter, Mike Jones, J.Leyshon, R.Johnston; Matthew Jones, P.Horgan; P.Jones (captain), D.Poland, A.Howells; Mark Jones, L.Bateman; B.Sinkinson, H.Jenkins, J.McPhail
Replacements (all employed) :- C.Anderson, O.Gustafson, C.Griffiths, A.Littlehales, B.Davies, S.Phillips, A.Llewellyn