Neath-Ystrad Rhondda games rarely fail to entertain and this was no different as it produced 14 tries – 11 of them to the home team.

Games between the two clubs are usually closely-fought but this time below-par Ystrad had the misfortune to run into a Welsh All Blacks team determined to put the agony of last week’s last kick of the game defeat by Merthyr behind them.

The All Blacks got the biggest win of the day as they set a steady pace from the outset although their advance was stymied by a high penalty count against them.

The morning downpours relented leaving a blustery wind for the teams to contend with and Neath, playing towards the Llantwit end, made most of the first-half running and their positive start led to the first try on five minutes by hooker Sion Jones, Iestyn Morgan converting.

Morgan, enjoying a rare outing at outside-half for the holidaying Paul Short, kept Neath’s pot-boiling with a couple of excellent touch-finders from penalties and Kieran Charles nearly put in full back Morgan Meaclem before Neath quickly tapped a penalty, the forwards drove and tight head Marley Lovell – one of four impressive props employed – bagged his first try for the Club. Iestyn Morgan’s straightforward conversion made it 14-nil on 10 minutes.

Ystrad were still in the fight though and, with Neath again conceding far too many penalties, the game went through an untidy phase. Neath’s scrum was inconveniencing the visitors and this led to a bout of fisticuffs and the sin-binning of a player each.

This seemed to inspire Ystrad and Neath were forced to defend manfully for a period with a couple of thunderous tackles being put in before another Neath man found himself on the side-line for collapsing a maul.

But Neath weathered the storm and pounced before half-time, doubling their advantage through two scores by flanker Gethin Tremlett and a second for hooker Sion Jones, Morgan converting both from wide out to put the All Blacks well in the ascendancy and at the break the bonus point was already in the bag.

Half-time – Neath 28 points Ystrad Rhondda nil

 The game was all but settled by the interval but spectators were treated to a hectic second-half which produced 10 further tries and rich entertainment with score upon score.

Just three minutes in, Neath struck first for their fifth try when flanker Gethin Tremlett kicked through to the posts and it fell into the path of fast-supporting centre Kieran Charles who dabbed down for the try and Morgan added the simple conversion for 35-nil.

Two  minutes later it became 42-nil when a splendid break by ever-lively wing Ki Morgan was capitalised upon by the forwards and Iestyn Morgan broke to canter over for Neath’s seventh which he again goaled.

To their credit, Ystrad fought back and three of the next four scores were theirs as captain and hooker Corben Evans (2) and scrum-half Keian Richards struck with outside-half Jacob Symes converting two.

But the Evans tries were interspersed with one for Neath by replacement back rower Steff Lewis on a charge-down and it was 47-19.

Neath suffered injuries behind the scrum to Morgan Meaclem and Sean Wilcox but the full introduction of Neath’s replacements bench did not ease Ystrad’s plight as it saw influential players take the field.

All made an impact and the All Blacks recovered their poise for Steff Lewis to send in replacement Jacob Skeels for his first – and the home team’s – eighth try which carried them past the half-century mark at 52-19.

Referee Andrew Moule kept things moving to the end and, when the All Blacks ran the ball from deep, Kieran Charles and Sam Harris combined nicely for the ninth as Jon Bayliss collected another try but Jacob Skeels was stretchered off with a nasty-looking knee injury.

A grand charge by prop Mason Morgan and a timely intervention by replacement scrum-half Kaden Davies led to a 10th try by Casey Williams who had re-emerged as a right wing replacement and that made it 62-19.

Finally, the polished centre pairing of Kieran Charles and Sam Harris combined for the latter to cross for Neath’s 11th try of the afternoon which Iestyn Morgan, back on as an interchange replacement, converted to complete a 19-point match haul and made it 69-19 to conclude an excellent afternoon’s entertainment.

Really, Ystrad Rhondda had more of the game than the score suggests but Neath were pretty clinical in their execution although much work remains to be done – again too many penalties were conceded (around half as many as Ystrad Rhondda did), there was some loose tapping back at the line-outs and scoring so many tries revealed that kick-off reception left a lot to be desired.

Remedy those deficiencies and Neath have the makings of a decent side !

* Improvements are necessary before next Saturday when Neath make the cross-country trek to Brecon where the home side will be as eager as ever to test the Welsh All Blacks.

NEATH – M Meaclem (S Harris); J Bayliss, S Wilcox, K Charles, K Morgan; I Morgan (J Skeels), C Tantum (K Davies); O Watts (M Morgan), S Jones (K Jones), M Lovell (J Jones); M Davies, J Blackmore; C Williams (S Lewis), B Williams (capt), G Tremlett (J Hughes)

YSTRAD RHONDDA – A Webber; I Chedzoy, C Davies, E Williams (R Evans), K Williams; J Symes, C Phillips (K Richards); T Stacey (N English), C Evans (capt) (L Jones), C Whitford (D Webb); I Williams, J Owen (C Parry); M Roderick (M Burgess), K Jones, J Rees (D Morris)
Referee – Mr A Moule (Port Talbot)

Images courtesy of Len Kowalski www.lensworkphotography.co.uk