Caerphilly’s goal-kicking woes have cost them another victory.
With Luke Richards out injured, coach Mark Ring is struggling to find a replacement goal-kicker. Fly-half Justin Thomas kicked 14 points against Swansea at Virginia Park today, but his two late misses handed the Whites a one-point win.
After the Thomases – Caerphilly’s Justin and Swansea’s Arwel – swapped early penalty goals, Arwel Thomas chipped over the top of a flat defence to give veteran centre Scott Gibbs a simple run-in to score.
Swansea fullback and Sam Payne then snapped up a loose ball with Caerphilly hot on attack and sent Arwel Thomas away for an easy run to the line 80 metres in the distance.
Caerphilly continued to run everything, and got back into the game through blindside flanker Joe El-Abd, who beat a weak tackle to bring his side back to 13-17 at the break.
The Thomases again swapped penalty goals early in the second half, and Justin Thomas’ fourth narrowed the gap to one point with 20 minutes to play.
But his two misses from 30m in the 80th and 83rd minutes confirms Caerphilly’s spot at the bottom of the League table.
Caerphilly: Try – J El-Abd; Pens – J Thomas 4; Con – J Thomas.
Swansea: Tries – S Gibbs, A Thomas; Pens – A Thomas 2; Cons – A Thomas 2. Halftime: Swansea 17-13.
