Caerleon Match Report

BEAUFORT RFC 12 POINTS CAERLEON RFC 15 POINTS Beaufort desperately needed a league win to keep them near the top of division 6. Sadly it was not to be though they should ponder on how they could lose a game in which they dominated territorially and had so much possession to conjure up a win. For long periods Caerleon were pinned inside their own heartlands as Beaufort tried to steamroll them into submission But Caerleon's much heavier pack proved a difficult nut to crack and throughout the match maintained a titanium like defence that showed no signs of wear despite the relentless tackling Dylan Smith did kick two penalties in the first quarter before disaster fell on the home side A high clearance kick found space behind the Beaufort attack which bounced back onto itself into the waiting arms of the Caerleon wing. who had the pace to run the 60 metres to cross over under the posts . Beaufort got the lead back to 9 points to 7 with another Smith penalty only to see it cancelled out when Caerleon got one of their own . Just before the interval another rare visit to Beaufort territory brought its reward for the visitors as the host side allowed a speculative kick to go unchecked . The upshot was a corner try to give Caerleon an improbably lead of 15 points to 9 The visitors might have taken advantage of the wind after the break but they seemed content to sit on this lead and soak up the home side attacks while their opponents were undone by a lack of invention to tactically change the direction of their game Flanker Jason Taylor and his number 8 Andrew Morgan both made some explosive breaks to keep the Caerleon overworked defence fully occupied but the all important drive on the line could not be engineered . Fresh hope came in the form of a fourth Smith penalty to bring Beaufort within reach of the lead . In the final 10 minutes there were furious exchanges as both sides battled it out on the Caerleon try line Beaufort star player on the day Ben Harding had a fine match and he came tantalisingly close to getting the vital score . However , to Caerleon's credit they kept their composure and refused to buckle under the onslaught to ride the match out . Clearly disappointed at the final whistle Beaufort had to make do with the losing bonus point.