Abergavenny RFC- 43

Fairwater RFC -38

Abergavenny just nicked a high-scoring affair against Fairwater Cardiff in the third round of the WRU Bowl Competition at Bailey Park.

The early exchanges were ferocious and fully committed before the Abergavenny forwards gained a foothold in the Fairwater half. Anthony Squire found space in midfield for a clear run under the posts.

Fairwater equalised with a try of their own before the Clarets upped the ante with tries for Dan Beavan, another for Squire, and one courtesy of the dominant forwards who rolled another maul over the line for Rhys Dawe to bag the points. Two conversions by Webster resulted in a comfortable half-time score of 24 -12.

The second-half began with Abergavenny continuing to play a fast and open game resulting in a score for winger Garin Price, converted by Webster.

At 31-12 Abergavenny should have closed the game out, but with the home scrum going backwards, Fairwater found they had good possession for their talented backs. They quickly took the game to Abergavenny resulting in ten minutes of mayhem resulting in three quick tries, bringing the score to 31-31 with 10 minutes left.

At this point Rob Lothian and Nathan Harris were sent on to remedy the problems at scrum time. Nathan Thomas and Joe Symonds shored up a tiring pack and Nathan Bryne replaced Dan Smith in midfield.

The scrum suddenly was going forward at a rate of knots and Abergavenny regained control of the game. Scoring opportunities arose but none were taken leaving the final score all square.

Extra time began with the home side maintaining the control they had at the end of normal time. Patient build up and a strong run by Thomas, drawing in defenders, led to Nathan Bryne powering through midfield to score a converted try under the posts. This was followed by a well weighted kick by Webster, putting Lloyd Holder in for a try in the second half of extra time to give the Clarets a 12 point cushion.

Fairwater were not finished. They found space from deep, running the ball back at the home side in devastating fashion, to score under the posts.

There was no further time and a thrilling game of rugby played by two committed sides had ended 43-38, sending Abergavenny into the fourth round draw.

Abergavenny return to league action against Garndiffaith on November 10 at Bailey Park.