Everyone who took to the field were a credit to the sport and gave of their all with the Cofis sealing a share of the spoils during the final play to secure a 17-17 draw.
The evenly fought opening exchanges gave the impression that the outcome could be determined by unforced errors and the team most capable of capitalizing on.
The Caernarfon lineout was a little suspect thus giving Skewen valuable and unexpected possession. From one such steal the centres, over the top, chip led to confusion in Cofi ranks and flanker Courtney Howe was on hand to collect and score her debut try in Skewen colours after nine minutes. Within a further three minutes a similar lineout miss-function led to an inside pass in midfield giving speedy centre Kerin Lake the space to outpace the defence and ground close to the posts, allowing Bethan Preece the added extras.
With the deficit being 12 points, Caernarfon had to dig deep and with the direct running of Elen Evans and Jenny Davies gaining valuable yardage others responded to keep pressure on the Skewen rearguard. Prop Emma Edwards epitomised the new found belief winning turnover ball that led to a 10-phase move involving forwards and backs before unaccustomed standoff Alaw Davies was finally put in space to score. Bar one decision she had done all that was asked of her, distributing when necessary and tenacious in her tackling.
Other sound tackling episodes from Evans and captain Lauren Hassett thwarted some promising Skewen moves who often elected to kick for territory to gain promising attacking positions. Caernarfon on the other hand were making life a little more difficult for themselves by opting to run out of defence against the slope however no further points were recorded before the break.
A break by Evans at the beginning of the second half was expected to bring reward until an excellent cover tackle by winger Sinead Breeze brought her to a halt meters short. Later Emma Edwards’s involvement on two occasions led to substantial yardage being gained, with the Cofis as a result gaining the ascendency. A pick up from the base of the scrum saw dynamic Jenny Davies set off on an unstoppable run that saw her cross the whitewash to bring the Cofis back into contention.
Skewen however responded with good tactical play from the likes of Preece and the very impressive straight running prop Alicia Demery. On gaining a foothold in Caernarfon’s 22 another fine sequence of ball retention finally saw balanced speedster Breeze squeeze in at the corner to restore the seven point Skewen cushion mid way through the half.
Skewen didn’t panic and were tactically sound, however first game fatigue was beginning to get the better of many with the Cofis loosing flanker Ceris Davies who had tackled heroically throughout the match. With time running out and last play having been signalled the Cofis mounted one final charge through Evans and Davies but on both being brought to ground just short Emma Edwards who had instigated the move arrived to collect and spot the gap that was to lead to great jubilation amongst the Cofi faithful. It still needed the cool head of Evans to add the all important conversion to secure a share of the spoils and this she did.
Both teams could be proud of their achievements and will have noted aspects to work on however commitment was never questioned during a hard fought but fair and clean contest throughout.
