Whitland V Neath
Saturday 28th February 2004

WHITLAND 5 NEATH 15 (by Phil Space)

Neath were made to battle hard to overcome Whitland and advance into the quarter-finals of the Welsh Cup.

The Blacks did not find the quagmire of a pitch and the sub-zero temperatures blown in by a keen wind to their liking and struggled to assert themselves against a feisty home side who were up for the occasion.

Neath were on the defensive from the moment that Matthew Jones' kick off failed to make the distance out of the mud and Whitland used early possession to set up a try for centre Lee Glanville.

The Blacks, with the wind at their backs, did not always use possession wisely but they took the lead when Jones converted a try by flanker Andrew Llewellyn who blazed through tackles to take Neath past 1000 points for the season.

Kevin James then made the running for the second try by No.8 Steve Phillips and Neath really ought to have added to their score before halftime which was reached at 12-5 with the home side very much in it.

The Blacks upped their effort in the second-half and, apart from one spell when Whitland forced a couple of lineouts near the Neath line, their forwards did more than enough to keep the home side at bay and the only score of the second half was a penalty by Matthew Jones.

Neath v Whitland :- P.Bamsey; K.James, J.Leyshon, W.Mitchell, R.Johnston; Matthew Jones, P.Horgan; P.Jones (captain), A.Littlehales (D.Poland), A.Howell; Mark Jones, T.Davies; A.Llewellyn (B.Sinkinson), S.Phillips, J.McPhail