If the sizeable travelling contingent had concerns at half-time after a frustrating 40 minutes, their worries were addressed by a Prys Eckley try within a minute of the resumption, writes Peter Weavers.

The next 35 minutes yielded six more tries and yet another 50-point win for the men in green, white and black.

Played on a sticky surface facing an opposition with one game plan – blast down the middle using a hefty front five – Gwernyfed struggled to make their mark on the game in the early exchanges. The hosts’ tactic, while maybe not champagne rugby, was effective in allowing the Newport side to take the lead on 10 minutes when a driving maul from a line-out produced seven points.

Gwernyfed struck back almost immediately courtesy of skipper Jack Williams. A strong run from centre Tom Morgan took play deep in the Bettws half, and, after both Dylan Skyrme and Lloyd Powell made ground, half-backs Luke Eckley and Joe Winfield brought full-back Tyler Morris into the line. Though Morris’s pass was perfectly timed, Williams still had to negotiate the covering defence, a challenge he negotiated with some style.

With a quarter of the game run, Gwernyfed looked likely to overwhelm their hosts. However, it never quite happened, a few unforced errors and some dogged defence allowing the Newport 15 to enjoy the half-time orange with a two-point lead and the scent of a shock in the air.

Fresh legs came on for the second period in the form of Rhys Price and Ryan Davies, the latter returning to his home club after spells with Cardiff, Ebbw Vale and Brecon. From the restart, Gwernyfed mounted an assault on the home side’s line, prop Eckley getting the touchdown with his pack propelling him over the whitewash. Winfield potted the first of his six conversions.

Price was making inroads with some rip-roaring runs into the heart of the defence and when Bettws resorted to illegality to stop him, quick-thinking scrum-half Luke Eckley took a tap penalty, passing to evergreen hooker Craig Parry whose momentum took him over with three defenders.

More replacements, Tom Griffiths, Kelly Davies and newcomer John Howard, came onto add to the mounting worries on the faces of the Bettws defenders. Their fears were justified. Direct from the restart the ball went across the line to Tom Morgan. The Llandefalle man approached the halfway line before releasing Ryan Davies on the left. Davies’s return to the green, white and black fold was celebrated by a dazzling run through a massed defence that failed to lay a hand on the flier as he touched down under the posts to make Winfield’s job a formality.

With the forwards - John Howard impressing - battering the defence in search of more tries, the speedsters out wide expected to profit, though it was young replacement hooker Kelly Davies next on the slate, using power and guile to get over in the corner. If that try was owed to muscle, the next was owed to the twinkling feet of outside-half Winfield. The game-maker took matters into his own hands when 30 metres out with a delicious sidestep that allowed him to saunter in unattended.

By now it was a case of how many. Some good work from Craig Parry and Tom Millington provided Dylan Skyrme with an opportunity, the centre needing no second invitation to outpace the defence from 25 metres. The final nail in the plucky Bettws coffin was delivered from deep when Tyler Morris spotted Winfield out wide and landed a pinpoint kick into the bread basket. Winfield carried for 30 metres, Tom Morgan took up the cause and when stopped Jordan Curran cleared from the ruck to Ryan Davies on the 22-metre line. The winger completed his double with aplomb, wrapping up a great win on an afternoon when the early signs suggested otherwise.

The Six Nations tournament takes precedence next weekend, after which Gwernyfed look to extend their season-long unbeaten run when they play host to Whitehead RFC from Newport – book your tickets early!