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LLANDRINDOD WELLS v CARDIFF SARACENS – 30TH JAN
LLANDRINDOD WELLS v CARDIFF SARACENS – 30TH JAN
Their previous encounter had been a very close affair, the Sarries losing at home 8-9 and with neither side getting much game time recently, due to the ‘big freeze’, it was a fair assumption that this game would be no different
Despite receiving an early morning dusting of snow, the pitch looked in excellent condition considering the month long freeze.
With no game for nearly 2 months the home side were somewhat ring-rusty. However, the Sarries were able to benefit from having a tough, close game against Clwb Rygbi the previous week. From the start, despite playing up the appreciable slope, the Sarries dominated territorially and possession wise. It was only due to a combination of an excellently drilled Llandrindod defence, some persistent home infringing plus some very cold hands that the Sarries were unable to cross the whitewash.
As the match was seemingly drifting towards half time the scoreline remained at 0-0, No8 Martin ‘Sampras’ Davey having missed a penalty from out wide after 20 minutes. On 34 minutes, Llan’dod infringed and this time Davey was able to add the 3pts. The remainder of the half, including 7 minutes of injury time passed without any real incident
HALF TIME – LLANDRINDOD WELLS 0 - CARDIFF SARACENS 3
The first 20 minutes of the 2nd half continued in much the same vein, with the Sarries just missing out on the final pass or some sterling defence coming to the rescue for Llan’dod. At this point their players seemed to need treatment at every stoppage and consequently the Sarries could not develop any pattern. As the game entered the final quarter it appeared that Llan’dod had played themselves into the game and they started winning decent possession without ever really threatening the Sarries line.
With the clock showing 78 minutes, the home defence once again infringed, this time offering a kickable opportunity some 40 metres out but, crucially, smack in front of the posts. Davey once again stepped up and a beautifully struck kick sailed through the air to bisect the posts. As the game entered injury time the Sarries could have been forgiven if their minds went back to the previous weeks cruel injury time defeat. However, ball retention was superb and they saw out the 8 minutes of added time without any panic, to record a hard earned win
FINAL SCORE – LLANDRINDOD WELLS 0 CARDIFF SARACENS 6
PEN - Martin Davey (2)
MOTM – Liam Davies
NEXT FIXTURE – Friendly – (Home – Cardiff BUS) – Saturday 13TH FEB – 10:30 KO