Gwernyfed handed old friends and rivals, Llandaff North, a sound beating in the first round of the WRU Cup, writes Peter Weavers.

The Cardiff outfit returned down the A470 after a six-try defeat master-minded by coaches Thomas, Phillips, Dodd and Lewis and delivered in some style by Sam Stephens and his side.

The green, white and blacks couldn’t have asked for a better start.

After the inevitable attempt by the visitors to assert control, within two minutes Kyle Davies won the ball at the breakdown and delivered to number nine Tomi Griffiths. Once the ball reached fly half Gethin Davies, moving to ten as a result on injury, the Hay youngster showed Llandaff North what they were in for, breaking tackles and finding gaps. When desperate defence halted Davies after a 30-metre sortie, his strength allowed him to offload to Lloyd Powell, following up as all good wing forwards do. It takes something to stop Powell and no one was strong enough to prevent the try this time.

Gethin Davies extended the lead after 20 minutes. His presence attracts defensive attention, but it was notable that centres Jack Williams and Dylan Skyrme regularly made incursions that allowed Davies his own space to touch down under the posts, allowing himself an easy conversion.

While the result was never in doubt, Llandaff North offered a real challenge up front, battering the Gwernyfed eight at the breakdown when opportunity allowed. Locks Tom Lloyd and Andrew Norris were always prominent in defence as was the case with impressive prop Prys Eckley. However, a series of penalties, the referee critical of Gwernyfed camping on the offside line, gave the visitors the momentum upon which they capitalised, scoring a seven pointer just before the break.

Turning round, Llandaff North continued to drive into the defence and succeeded in reducing the lead by another seven points within five minutes of the restart. Stephens shook up his men, the green, white and blacks revved up and went on a 30-minute spree, starting with another Lloyd Powell try, built upon a rapid move down the left involving full back Zac Snape and winger Calum Ferguson. Sam Stephens acted as link man, then finding Powell who was again unstoppable from 25 metres out.

Speed and precision were the watchwords for the remainder of the game. The home pack regularly set up good ball, not least from the restarts where Tom Lloyd regularly made 20 metres, allowing his backs a platform. Attacks originated from every part of the pitch, Dylan Skyrme always prominent, getting the next touch down, dancing through a bemused defence from thirty metres.

The fifth try was a beauty. It came from the home 22, Snape, Jack Williams and Ferguson moving and passing at pace. If the build up was good, the final phase was brilliant. Williams was stopped but turned in the tackle to thud the ball into the solar plexus of Gethin Davies running at speed and powering through a despairing defence from 30 metres out.

The visitors never gave up and threw the ball around in the hope of getting a consolation score. As well as being swift in attack the Gwernyfed three-quarter line is aggressive in defence and forced an error. Dylan Skyrme was quickest to react, collecting the dropped ball and outstripping the defence from inside his own half. Snape added his fourth conversion to bring a very enjoyable game to a very satisfactory end.

Gwernyfed return to league action next week, entertaining Bedwellty, both sides unbeaten to date. It is Vice Presidents’ day at The Brian Jones Memorial Field which should swell increasing crowds attracted by some exciting rugby from Stephens’s side.