Blacks give away first half advantage (From Western Telegraph)

Blacks give away first half advantage

Tycroes 21 Neyland 13

A ten point lead after only seven minutes provided the cushion that Tycroes needed to ease their way to victory against a Neyland side which found itself 16-3 adrift at the break.

The All Blacks eased their way back to trail by only three points and they were in with a real chance in the last 15 minutes, only for their scrum to suffer and Tycroes killed off the game with a late try as a result of a rare period of concerted pressure in the second half.

The All Blacks conceded a penalty from the kick off as they were penalised for not joining the maul correctly and home kicker Ken Lloyd slotted the three points.

Lloyd missed a second chance before converting a try by flanker Stefan Nurse which stemmed from a clean line-out take and drive which the visitors were unable to counter.

Having conceded those points, Neyland began to settle despite a knock for lock Damon McGarvie, with fly half Nicky Greggain notching their first points from a penalty.

He also missed a second chance and Lloyd added two further penalties, the latter from the final kick of the first half.

It was a different Neyland in the third quarter as Chris Busby won good lineout ball, the back row of Adrian Riley, Colin Picton and Mathew Williams was very busy and centres Steve Evans and Martin Tamilia posed a real threat.

Tamilia in particular looked sharp, several powerful bursts punching holes in the Tycroes defence - but the final pass seemed destined to go to ground. But the All Blacks scored the try they deserved when Mathew Williams created the space for man of the match Picton to score a good try which Greggain converted.

Greggain was further involved as he intercepted a floated pass and chased his own clever chip ahead.

A try certainly seemed on the cards but the ball rolled into touch near the corner flag. The All Blacks had another chance with a length of the field movement - but it was illegally held and up and Greggain contributed another three points.

But the All Blacks struggled in the set-pieces after a series of enforced changes, one of which saw the influential Mark Riley go off with a hand injury, Mathew Williams taking his place at scrum half, Simon Phillips switching to flanker so that Nicky Edwards could play on the wing.

Peter Davies was replaced by James Picton at prop and Tycroes had the final word when they spread the play wide and Lloyd put winger Lee Mosby over in the corner to seal a win which might well have been Neylands had they not had that sticky period at the start.

Neyland: Greg Miller: Simon Phillips; Steve Evans; Martin Tamilia; Jason Riley (Lee Perkins): Nicky Greggain; Mark Riley (Nicky Edwards): Peter Davies (James Picton); Richard Banner; Dean Fellowes: Chris Busby; Damon McGarvie: Adrian Riley; Mathew Williams; Colin Picton.