County falter at final hurdle (From Western Telegraph)

County falter at final hurdle

Pembrokeshire 26 North Wales 33 Referee: Matthew Aplin

Touch Judges: James Jones and Mark Williams Pembrokeshire failed in their bid to reach the final of the Welsh Counties Cup as they lost against a strong North Wales team at the final hurdle, a match played at Whitland where the county side were already 30-12 adrift at the break as the North Walians used the wind at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn to their advantage.

There was a big improvement after the break as Pembrokeshire battled back to within a single score with a quarter of the game remaining as Steve Hartland sped over for a try hat-trick but they were unable to add any further points and so North Wales progressed to the final and left Pembrokeshire again reflecting on the fact that while they did have a stronger squad than of late, there was still some reluctance from clubs to release players needed six days later in league matches.

North Wales looked quite sharp from the first whistle but they suffered an early set-back when flanker Bleddyn Jones was injured and had to be taken to hospital - but soon after the restart they opened their account when fly half Dylan Llyr landed his first penalty.

Hartland gave Pembrokeshire the lead with his first try after Graham and Aled Davies had made the half space for him to power through - but home hopes of extending their advantage were soon in tatters as winger Paulo Tardwal powered over in the corner for Llyr to land the difficult conversion.

Another Llyr penalty and a conversion of a penalty try awarded by referee Matthew Aplin after home centre Sengili Tuihalamaka had been seen holding back opposing No 8 Steve Billis when the North Wales skipper looked set to score.

At 20-5 adrift, things seemed distinctly rocky for the county but things worsened as Llyr kicked his third penalty and converted a try scored by replacement flanker Dafydd Hughes as reward for some good play up front by Billis, plus props Mike and Alun Davies.

Pembrokeshire managed to reduce the deficit right on the interval when Hartland scooted away for his second solo try, which Aled Davies goaled to at least give the county a semblance of hope.

There was even better news after the restart when good work by brothers Simon and Matthew Edwards allowed burly Narberth prop Alan Phillips to storm over for a try which Aled Davies converted, as he did so well from wide out after Hartland had claimed the countys fourth and his own third score.

Sandwiched in between was a fourth penalty by Llyr after Hartland had raised home hopes of a thrilling come-back but it came to nothing, despite the efforts of Evan Davies, Romeo Collella, skipper Dai Ebsworth and Richard Brazell.

A few half chances were downed by the county and there was no further scoring as North Wales defended well and resisted late onslaughts by Colin Picton, Chris Busby and Evan Davies to deny Pembrokeshire - and were worthy winners after their long journey from North Wales, despite that vigorous fight back from the county squad after such an awful first half where they were a shadow of the side that played after half time.

Pembroke County: Andrew George (Narberth): Darren Rees (Whitland); Aled Davies; Sengili Tuihalamaka; Steve Hartland (Whitland): Simon Rogers - Whitland (Colin Picton - Neyland); Graham Davies (Fishguard): Alan Phillips (Narberth); Evan Davies (Fishguard); Romeo Collella (Andrew Webster) - both Whitland: Dai Ebsworth (Whitland); Matthew Edwards (Pembroke): Mark Hughes (Whitland); Richard Brazell (HWest) (Chris Williams - Whitland): Simon Edwards (Pembroke). Other Replacements (not used): Emyr Davies (Narberth); Matthew Hughes, Mark Lee; Dafydd Lewis (all Whitland).