Laugharne show real grit and skill on The Bowl road

WRU National Bowl - Round Four:

Whitehead 7 - Laugharne 28

Laugharne moved into the last 16 of this nationwide competition with a terrific win under floodlights that owed a great deal to their commitment as skill.

Played under the floodlights at Abertillery Park because opponents Whithead’s, who are currently lying seventh in Division Three (Central) B, have their pitch unplayable after so much rain in Monmouthshire, Laugharne had the tricky task of making the long midweek journey before taking on physical opponents who were backed up by an obdurate crowd that tried to apply pressure on the referee.

Laugharne show strength in defence

But Gary Price’s Laugharne squad are made of stern stuff and they battled through the first 30 minutes as their pack gradually cooled the Whitehead fire as the Laugharne pack dominated the set pieces thanks to their tight five of Dorian Harries, Ritchie Waters, Skipper Rhys Thomas, Dai Thomas and Tomas Rees.

As a result, the back row of Carl Smith, Rhodri Thomas and especially Mikey Williams, found time to not only tackle well in defence but also to feature powerful drives at the heart of the Whitehead midfield.

Whitehead’s grab a soft solo try but Laugharne respond immediately . . .

Yet it was the opposition who finally opened the scoring after 37 minutes from a quickly-taken tapped penalty where outside half Jacob Proctor scurried to the posts and added the extra points.

But this lead lasted only two minutes before Jack Flanagan and Owain Thomas took Laugharne on the attack and when Mikey Williams picked up a ball in loose play, he twisted out of a tackle and there was no stopping his surge to the posts, with Tom Jameson adding the simple conversion to square matters up at the break.

. . . And take over in the second half

The second half saw Laugharne’s forward superiority pay off because Whitehead’s heads went down a little and after a series of scrums were reset because they were jerked backwards the referee awarded a penalty try to Laugharne.

It was a real boost for Laugharne and it was no more than they deserved because Mikey Williams claimed his second try and Tom Jameson again converted – and Owain Thomas applied the coup de grace as he sliced through some half-hearted tackles to score try number four, which Jameson again goaled.

Coach Gary is delighted

Coach Gary Price told PembrokeshireSport.co.uk afterwards,

“This was a cracking performance by the boys because they maintained their discipline and refused to be intimidated by either opposition or their support. We were very strong in the set-pieces and retained possession well, which meant that we were able to call the shots.

“Our defence was excellent and we are looking forward to the next round, knowing that our next round will be just as challenging.”

The delight in the Laugharne camp was evident and it is to Whitehead’s credit that they took their defeat on the chin – and now Laugharne’s hopes of a quarter-final slot sees them facing another difficult tussle as they must travel to Tumble, who are currently third in Division Three (West) B and another side who are traditionally strong at home.

Laugharne: Tom Thomas: Will Evans; Tom Evans; Tom Davies; Gareth Spiers: Owain Thomas; Jack Flanagan: Dorian Harries; Ritchie Waters; Rhys Thomas: Tomos Rees; Dai Thomas: Rhodri Thomas; Mikey Williams; Carl Smith. Replacements: Tom Waters; Lee Thomas; Ben Lloyd; Gethin Jones.