Another last-gasp defeat for Ravens
LLANELLI..........................30 BRIDGEND........................26
P
AUL Fisher admits his Llanelli side played one of their “get out of gaol” cards to turn a losing scoreline into an injury time victory and extended their winning run to four games.
Bridgend skipper Nathan Edwards picked up a yellow card five minutes from time and then had to sit through the agony of seeing his side lose to a last minute try.
Llanelli had a kickable penalty in the dying moments that would have allowed them to draw level at 26-26, but instead kicked to the corner.
Edwards picked up his card for tapping the arm of the Llanelli scrum half at a ruck with his side leading 2623.
With a one man advantage, Llanelli set up a close range line-out and drove prop Alex Jeffries over the line.
Ashley Sutton stepped up to add the extras to deliver the knock-out blow.
Llanelli moved up into seventh place in the table and are now 11 points clear of Bridgend at the bottom.
“We dominated territory and possession, but the quality of the game wasn’t very high.
“I felt sorry for Bridgend because they could so easily have won it,” said Llanelli head coach, Fisher.
“We definitely played one of our get out of gaol cards and it was a ballsy decision to kick for the line-out to try to win the game rather than kick the penalty to take the draw.”
Jacob Lewis, following in the footsteps of his famous father, Emyr, opened the scoring for the home side in the first minute and Sutton converted.
Bridgend scrum half Chris Williams, celebrating his 150th game for the Ravens, then scampered over for a try that Owen Howe improved.
Howe added three first-half penalties to one from Sutton and Bridgend led 16-10 at the break.
Llanelli took the lead in the third quarter with two more Sutton penalties and a driving line-out try from hooker Dafydd Hughes that Sutton converted.
The Ravens fought back with two more Howe penalties and then a try by Jamie Murphy after a spilled kick. Howe’s conversion made it 26-23 with 10 minutes to go before the yellow card and the last minute try.
LLANELLI: Tries: J Lewis, D Hughes, A Jeffries; Cons: A Sutton 3; Pens; A Sutton 3.
BRIDGEND: Tries: C Williams, J Murphy; Cons: O Howe 2; Pens; O Howe 4