Revenge is sweet for Rumney at Llanharan
DIVISION ONE EAST CENTRAL LLANHARAN ................. 6 RUMNEY ...................... 20
BACK in early September Llanharan ran in six tries at Riverside Park in an impressive 43-11 demolition of the Cardiff side.
In this return encounter they failed to cross the line once and looked distinctly mediocre for much of the game.
The contrast is hard to explain. There have been changes of personnel, but nine of the starting lineup remained with three more on the bench.
Even the inclusion of two Premiership duals in Chris Williams (Bridgend) and Ross Pritchard (Cross Keys) could not inspire the team to other than sporadic efforts.
To compound a bad afternoon, there was the distressing sight of club stalwart Paul Winter being ambulanced away with a triple fracture of the leg, something which could well have dampened spirits
lanharan though had the basics in place with a solid set piece, but could not establish the dynamics for effective territorial advance.
Their old East District foes on the other hand, undoubtedly buoyed by a WRU Plate run that has taken them to the quarterfinals, had a lot more effectiveness in their play.
Up front and behind they had players who could not only make telling ground, but also link up productively, whereas the Dairymen struggled to get phases going for much of the afternoon.
They had the encouragement of a third-minute Chris Williams penalty and occasionally threatened with Chris Poole making ground up one wing after good initial play by Morgan Williams, and James Williams on the other touchline just failing to find support with his bold reverse pass.
After Winter’s departure, Rumney came more into it. Poole brought off one good tackle, but a try was given away as the home side lost the ball in an attack and centre Paul King finished off.
The self-inflicted damage continued, a ball dropped over the line allowing Danny Clarke to gratefully pounce and give his side a 10-3 half-time lead.
Clarke added a penalty just after the restart, and although Williams responded.in kind, then ended the home side’s hopes as he converted a try from his skipper Mike Young, when another despairing Llanharan attack broke down.
To be fair, there were spells of improved intensity from Huw Thomas’s men, but this was one their old East District rivals were not going to let go of.
Backs coach Kevin Jones could be heard in the post-match “warm down” warning his players that far better was expected if they were not to be drawn into another relegation scenario for the second successive season.
An eight-point buffer currently keeps them clear of Cardiff Quins in the bottom two, while Rumney’s victory lifted them four points above the drop spot.
FRIENDLY MAESTEG CELTIC ...... 32 LLANHARAN SECONDS ..................... 42
THIS high scoring affair was paradoxically an error-strewn contest.
Llanharan looked as though they could score at will, but also displayed an unfortunate propensity for conceding easy tries at the other end.
Dai Pearson celebrated his return to Llanharan ranks with a try, and the dependable Gavin Parsons contributed two tries and all six conversions.
Newcomer Adam Williams also touched down as did experienced centre Gareth Dyer, with a penalty try thrown in for good measure.