WITH both the first and youth teams having their games cancelled due to the bad weather, only Gwernyfed Athletic played last Saturday.

The Athletic travelled to Caerleon for a Gwent, Newport and Pontypool League First Division fixture having already beaten their opponents in Talgarth earlier in the season.

The Athletic secured their eighth win out of nine League starts, thereby retaining their top place, with an 18-0 victory. However, prior to the game there was some uncertainty that this would be achieved.

Along with the inevitable heavy playing surface, a much changed team sheet appeared to reflect the cancellation of Caerleon’s first team fixture, and the first twenty minutes saw the two teams weighing each other up.

Caerleon opted for an expansive game while Gwernyfed, in appreciation of the poor conditions, adopted a more prosaic approach by keeping the ball tight but it was the visitors who opened the scoring, in the 21st minute, with a well struck penalty.

The home team responded well to this and spent the next 15 minutes in the Gwernyfed half. However, the conditions meant that many of their passes went to ground, while the defensive tackling of the visitors, led by wing Jules Tunnicliffe along with the midfield and back row, was also crucial in preventing any score.

With half time approaching, Gwernyfed were camped on the Caerleon try line and, following a number of forward drives, Tom Powell made an incisive break, allowing second row Sam Williams to pick and drive over the line for the first of Gwernyfed’s trio of unconverted tries. The first half ended with Gwernyfed ahead by eight points to nil.

Halftime saw Caerleon strengthen their team with six substitutions, including the introduction of two very elusive wingers. However, the incessant rain and saturated ground conditions were not conducive to dancing, while the determined Gwernyfed tackling ensured that any attempts to break the defensive line were thwarted.

The second half was spent largely in the Caerleon half, as the Gwernyfed pack slowly gained ascendance in the forward exchanges, and, in the 65th minute, a catch and drive from a five-yard lineout saw Jonny Davies roll back the years with a well-deserved try.

This was added to in the last minute of the game, when substitute prop James Brute picked up a loose ball, after a driving maul in the Caerleon 22 had broken down, to score the final try.

As the home club’s chairman commented, this was a thoroughly deserved victory by Gwernyfed Athletic, if only because they played the conditions far more effectively than did their opponents.