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16 January 2018 / Club News

PORTHCAWL 29 NEWPORT SARACENS 0

Porthcawl, captained superbly by Jon Phillips, with club skipper Richard Hnyda suffering from flu, eased into the last eight of the WRU Bowl with a sound performance built on their magnificent defence, which has conceded just 62 league points all season.

The visitors and their juggernaut pack proved to be a tough challenge and their straight up the middle approach, led often by huge No. 8 Gareth Davies and the hard working James Raymond, was clearly reminiscent of hard and committed Gwent sides, and gave the Seaweeds plenty of tackling practice throughout. However, what the visitors lacked was Porthcawl’s cutting edge behind and superior fitness.

Following the hard opening exchanges with the Sarries setting out their stall, Porthcawl eventually got going. Right wing Jordan Skidmore, showed sound footballing skills as he kicked ahead from well inside his own half, using his speed to kick on twice before grabbing the touchdown at the corner for a great opportunist try and 5-nil.

Outside half Josh White, whose conversion faded just wide made amends minutes later, having the presence of mind to turn the approaching Sarries defence by perfecting a superb grubber kick in behind the defensive line, for centre Gareth Rees to make light of the surface, hacking on and breezing in for a fine try at the posts, White converting for 12-nil.

Jack Williams came on to replace Gavin Williams at hooker with half an hour gone before left wing Jake Thomas embarked on a 50/50 race for another mischievous grubber kick through by White, however the visitors scramble defence cleared just in time to bring the half to a close.

Early in the second spell, White found his kicking boots once more as he stroked a fine 40 metre penalty out of the mud and 15 nil as Tim Lunn came on at prop for Jamie Uren, for the Seaweeds.

At times it was difficult to identify who was wearing the mud-laden jerseys on both sides, however Referee Mike Davies from Penclawdd, who had an excellent match throughout, did a great job in identification and kept the game moving as much as possible.

Rees was at it again for the Seaweeds on 60 minutes, as his speed took him clear over the now treacherous surface to get the touchdown from yet another kick ahead and White’s conversion for 22-nil effectively killed off the contest, with the heavy mud having taken its toll on the visitors pack.

As Skidmore left proceedings for Jack Power on the wing, Leon McNally, again outstanding made way for Jon Lodwig with Jamie Uren coming back on at prop for Matt Cooke.

With 10 minutes remaining, the impressive Jake Furness at flanker, a workhorse throughout the match, still had the fitness to rack up the final score as he chased a kick over the Sarries try line and grabbed the try, converted by White once more to bring a close to the scoring and a very satisfactory win for Porthcawl at 29-nil.

Porthcawl’s place in the draw for the final eight is eagerly awaited, a trip to the Principality Stadium now a possibility, whilst it’s back to league action on Saturday, as South Road welcomes old friends Bridgend Sports for what should be another cracker.

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