Laugharne 41pts         Lampeter 29pts

 

Laugharne`s excellent start to the season continued at Wooford field against a determined Lampeter xv. Having lost the home and away fixtures against them for the last two seasons, Laugharne sought to redress the balance although their pre-match preparation was far from adequate with a number of players turning up late.

 Laugharne won the toss and decided to give Lampeter the advantage of the wind, although they did score first in the 2nd minute, with wing Alistair Chambers slotting over a neat penalty for Lampeter being offside at the breakdown.

However, Lampeter worked their way into the Laugharne 22 from the restart and after retrieving the ball, flyhalf Huw Thomas dropped a neat goal. Sensing that Laugharne were vulnerable and ill prepared, the Lampeter eight began to pick up and drive and in the 6th min they were awarded for their efforts with a try by lock C.Watts near to the Laugharne posts. Thomas made no mistake with the conversion attempt.

Lampeter went on to increase their lead further in the 15th min with Thomas kicking a penalty with Laugharne caught napping and offside in front of their own posts on the 22m line. To add further woe to dozey Laugharne, Thomas increased Lampeter`s lead to 16pts - 3pts with a 2nd penalty in the 20th min for Laugharne being offside.   

Finally, in the 25th min, sleepy Laugharne woke up and from a neat box kick by scrum half Adam Davies from a scrum in the Laugharne half, the ball was gathered and secured by centre Deiane Thomas. With Laugharne moving forward outside half Ross Harries moved into space and drawing his man gave wing Alistair Chambers a clear run in to the Lampeter line for Laugharne`s first try, which went unconverted.

However, almost immediately Lampeter hit back with a 3rd penalty by Thomas with Laugharne deemed to be `coming in from the side` of the ruck.  But almost like `the click of a switch`, Laugharne began to play with urgency and with the welcome return of prop Robert Jones to the front row and the leadership of skipper Phil Brown, they began to play territorially in the Lampeter half. In the 35th min Laugharne scored a `gem` of a try with their midfield acting as decoy runners allowing flyhalf Harries to feed fullback Simon Davies on a straight run to the Lampeter posts. Chambers duly converted to narrow the gap. Just before half time Laugharne went into the lead for the 2nd time after `playing second fiddle` for most of the half. From a scrum in the Lampeter half, scrum half Davies fed his half back partner Harries who with a show of the ball, a neat dummy and a change of pace was clean through to the Lampeter line. Chambers added the conversion to take Laugharne to 22pts - 19pts lead at half time.

Lampeter restarted the 2nd half but Laugharne worked their way into the Lampeter half. From a crooked lineout the ball went loose on the Lampeter side and with good harrying by No.8 Kevin Pearce and lock Chris Thomas the ball was killed by a desperate Lampeter player. Chambers slotted over his 2nd penalty in the 4th min of the 2nd half.

Laugharne were still not in the clear as they temporarily relaxed and with some very poor half hearted tackles allowed Lampeter flanker D.Thomas in for an unconverted try. This closed the gap to one point and the ding dong battle continued. Laugharne went further ahead with them stretching the Lampeter defence on both sides of the pitch with forwards Robert Jones and fellow prop Richard Davies combining with wing Steve Hartland who took play to the Lampeter line. When he was eventually stopped, flanker Mark Jones was up in support to claim the try in the corner which this time went unconverted.

Lampeter were still in the hunt and from the restart worked their way deep into the Laugharne 22. From a lineout which Laugharne decided not to contest, Lampeter won the lineout and set themselves to drive over with lock G.Davies claiming the try. This score closed the Lampeter account but there was still the matter of winning the game convincingly for Laugharne. In the 29th and 32nd minutes of the 2nd half, Chambers slotted over further penalties as frustration was evident from Lampeter and the final killer blow came from Chambers again.From a lineout on half way, Laugharne won the ball and with Harries in commanding form and using centre Thomas as a decoy the ball reached co-centre Shaun Lynch at pace and with full back Davies entering the line, Chambers took the final pass to crash over in the corner for the final score which went unconverted. Lampeter then composed themselves for a final flourish in the Laugharne half but to all intents and purposes the Laugharne door was shut firmly as they wore the clock down to full time.

With Laugharne not participating in next week`s Welsh cup, their next game is a testing away match at Aberystwyth on Sat Nov 3rd, followed by the mouth watering clash with league leaders Ammanford at home on Sat Nov 10th.

 

Alun Jenkins Team Manager Laugharne R.F.C.