Caerphilly edge Ebbw Vale
February 14, 2003

Hosts Caerphilly got the better of a tough 31-28 Welsh Premiership battle against their Valleys rivals Ebbw Vale.

Caerphilly shot into the lead with a try from Roddy Boobyer after `Taffy' Taufahema had made the running down the touchline. Justin Thomas converted.

Taufahema continued to cause problems to the Vale defence and registered a second try with a spectacular solo effort, kicking ahead from 40 metres out and beating three defenders to gather and score.

Thomas converted but blotted his copybook when he failed to pass to supporting players at the end of a defence-splitting run.

When over-elaborate Caerphilly passing broke down near the Vale line full-back Richard Davies picked up and raced the length of a field for a try that Bryan Shelbourne converted.

Caerphilly suddenly found their 14-3 lead narrowed to just one point when Shelbourne put over a penalty for a late tackle which took Simon Grainger into the sin bin.

It was 16-14 to Vale at the interval - but within minutes of the restart Taufahema had won another thrilling race to touch down.

Thomas converted, and the home side were in front once again.

Captain Thomas added a penalty and then converted a score by Ryan Howells to create a seemingly safe margin of 15 points.

Vale's Will Thomas went into the sin bin for a late tackle, but Ebbw staged a late comeback with tries in the last 10 minutes from Mark Meenan and replacement Damien Penisini.

The Green and Whites of Caerphilly held on through seven minutes of additional time to record a deserved victory.

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices