Fly-half Stef Thomas scored a try in the 74th minute to tie the game before Ben Williams’ composed conversion proved enough to hold on for the astonishing victory.
Taffs Well did make the dream start to the game and found themselves ahead within four minutes. Flanker Rhys Watkins was able to bulldoze his way over after a catch and drive from the lineout. Burry Port looked to respond immediately but Williams’ penalty cannoned off the uprights and landed wide.
The scrum-half did make amends two minutes later from a similar position to get the Division 3 West side on the scoreboard.
In the 16th minute a clever grubber kick from Ross Lucas met a charging Ronan Barrett who did well to touch the ball down and give Taffs Well an extended lead after the conversion was kicked by Shaun Baggs.
Taffs Well looked the fitter, more energetic side and should have scored their third try midway through the half. After recycling the ball well an overload was created but a last-ditch tackle from Luke Redall halted hooker Mathew Desmier – a save which kept Burry Port within 9 points at the interval.
The game was slowly creeping away from Burry Port as Baggs added a penalty for Taffs Well minutes after the restart.
Port were offered a lifeline when The Wellmen were reduced to 14 men after fly-half Lucas was sin-binned.
But Port failed to capitalise on the man advantage despite getting within metres of the try-line. Port closed the gap with another Williams’ penalty and minutes later were fortunate not to be reduced to fourteen men themselves after Adam Rudall’s dangerous looking tip tackle on Barrett. Baggs kicked the resulting penalty to put Taffs Well ahead by 12 going into the final 20 minutes.
And the game took another twist when Ben Atkin’s reckless tackle on Port’s Luke Rudall saw him go to the sin-bin with replays suggesting he was fortunate not to see red. Tempers were starting to flare both on and off the field as another on the field incident saw referee Steve Nash speaking to both captains before a scuffle in the crowd forced the stewards to intervene.
After persistent pressure Burry Port finally took advantage of the extra man as player-coach and former Neath and Cardiff player Gareth Gravell scored by the posts. The remarkable comeback was complete when Powell slid over after some effective passing before Williams’ kick set up a tense finale. Taffs Well came knocking on a number of occasions in the final minutes but just couldn’t find a way past the resilient Port defence.
Gareth Gravell, who captained a losing Cardiff side in the 2007 Konica Minolta Cup final, and won the Cup with Neath, praised his teammates for the comeback. “Taffs Well really took it to us. We just kept plugging away and we came through in the end so credit to the boys”.
The player-coach added: “We’ve come losing games three times in the cup and we’ve sneaked through today. The boys have been brilliant all year, we’ve come from behind all season so I couldn’t see why we couldn’t do it today.”
Losing captain Gareth Gibbs rued his sides’ missed first-half chances. “I think the boys had a bit of white line fever, we’re on the big stage and everyone wants to score instead of doing what we been doing all season.” Gibbs missed out on securing another Bowl victory after captaining a Senghenydd side to glory in 2011, he applauded, Port’s defensive effort today by saying: “I think we squandered at least three chances in the first-half which should have put us out of sight. Their defence was solid in the end so I have to take my hat off to them.”
Scorers:
Burry Port: Tries: G Gravell, S Powell Pens: B Williams (2) Cons: B Williams (2)
Taffs Well: Tries: R Watkins R Barrett Pens: S Baggs (2) Con: S Baggs
Burry Port: A Rudall, D Daniel, D Etteridge (c), D Evans, L Rudall, S Powell, B Williams; J Ryan, I Roberts, S Bevan, R Gravell, B Jenkins, R Parker, O Dunleavy, L Sims
Replacements: M Gower, D Dawkin, O Thomas, E Evans, T Rees, R Samuel, T Bowen, G Gravell
Taffs Well: S Baggs, C Burgwyn, R Barrett, J Jones, G Close, R Lucas, G Lucas; G Gibbs (c), M Desmier, G Harvey, T Guy, J Barry, L Edwards, R Watkins, M Watkins
Replacements: J Davies, B James, B Atkin, S Evans, A French, D Mota, A Bonetto, M Wright
