Burry Port RFC record another bonus point victory to stay top of Division 3 West B over battling Betws. The match was played in near perfect conditions and both teams were keen to spread the ball and play entertaining rugby in the sunshine. The Blacks have developed their play this season and are multi-faceted in attack and it was a great start that saw winger Tom Bowen cross under the posts with fly half Stef Powell slotting over the extras.
Betws were unbeaten in their last 3 games and for an extended period showed why they are difficult to beat, as they kept the ball and looked to stretch the Burry Port defence. The Black line held firm and were able to absorb the pressure and despite having to work hard, looked confident in their ability to keep out the Amman Valley team. Patience & good communication saw the Betws attack lose momentum and eventually were driven back resulting in a turnover and wasted no time in setting up an attack from deep and looked dangerous with ball in hand.
The Burry Port pack were impressive in the tight and had the edge in the set piece but chose to run the ball at every given opportunity and with quick ball the pack sniped went up-field to the half way line to set up the backs with impressive handling putting winger Luke Rudall into space and draw the cover defence and deliver an accurate inside pass at pace that found captain Andy Francis who raced over for a try to make the score 12-nil at half time.
The second half saw many other chances with Tom Rees and Duane Evans making good ground but the accuracy of the first half was missing for long periods for the Blacks, who started to get frustrated as the chances came and went. At times the Betws defence were clinging on and two further tries followed from Dylan Evans and a second for Tom Bowen to claim the all-important bonus point. At 22-nil, and with 10 minutes to go, Betws showed their fighting spirit and put themselves in a great position to finally get some points on the board. After a few pick and go moves Betws scored out wide and slotted over the conversion close to the final whistle.
They came back again and scored an almost identical try in the final play to make the final score 22-14. Burry Port created plenty of try scoring chances and know the scoreline didn't reflect their dominance, however the objective of claiming another bonus point win was acheived without hitting top form, whilst Betws can be encouraged by their performance and host Bynea next week in a game Bynea have to win to have any ambitions of keeping pace with Burry Port RFC.
Coach Gareth Gravell said “ We have put ourselves in a good position and remain top even though our handling let us down at times, our set piece went well and there were other encouraging performances with good strength in depth in our young squad. We have to keep focused on the task in hand and we will prepare for an important match at home against Lampeter on Saturday. We hope to have a big crowd to cheer us on and have arranged for an early kick off 1.30pm in order to watch the Scarlets play Leinster in the Champions Cup Semi Final.”
Well done boys! Burry Port RFC's Website.
Thomas Bowen
Try 2
Dylan Evans
Try 1
Stefan James Powell
Conversion 1
Andrew Francis
Try 1
