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Neath 9 Munster A 23 By Tony Poole At The Gnoll



MUNSTER A not so much shut Neath out but squeezed the life out of them during this well-contested British & Irish Cup clash.

Just six days after carding a 29-16 win over holders Bristol at the Memorial Ground, the Blacks found the Irishmen a completely different kettle of fish.

While the West Country men were generous hosts in defence, Neath constantly knocked on the Irish door without gaining entry.

The seeds were sown early on, as Neath gave the Irish province their best shots, and almost made it over the try-line on a few occasions.

But as the tie wore on, so the strength of the professional Munster side shone through against their gritty semi-professional opponents.

And after wing Simon Zebo touched down in the 54th minute, there was only going to be one winner.

Though the Neath forwards gave it their best, the lineout proved a productive area for the Irish.

Time and again Neath fail to secure ball on their own throw, and this gave Munster a psychologically important advantage.

Once again the industry of captain Gareth Gravell, back-row chum Lee Evans together with locks Euros Evans and Adam Powell kept the wolf from the door.

But realistically, with the score on 23-9, the best the Blacks could hope for was a converted try to walk off with a losing bonus point.

And although replacements David Evans and Thomas Barry succeeded in denting the Irish defence, the buckles were soon hammered out.

A lot of energy was exerted during Neath’s encouraging start against Munster, and it was rewarded when fly-half Dai Langdon placed a seventh-minute penalty.

Back came the Irish with two penalties from fly-half J J Hanrahan while a 23rd-minute penalty from Langdon restored parity.

However, two minutes later Munster wing Ronan O’Mahoney was deemed to have got enough downward pressure on the ball, and was awarded a corner try.

A superb Hanrahan conversion made it 13-6 while the Blacks went on to boss the remainder of the half.

But significantly they failed to turn pressure into points - and received a massive setback a minute into the second half.

Captain and flanker Gareth Gravell, who later came off injured, was binned for a deliberate knock on.

Fly-half Hanrahan nailed the subsequent 42nd-minute penalty, and the key score unfolded in the 54th minute.

Neath failed to get the black blanket in position, and a tap and go from scrum-half Duncan Williams, resulting in wing Simon Zebo tearing through a gap to touchdown.

Another Hanrahan conversion left Neath requiring two converted tries for just share the spoils - and that was mission impossible.



Match stats



Neath: Pens – D. Langdon (3)
Team: A. Jenkins; K. James, A. Bramwell (D. Evans 77 mins), G. McCarthy, J. Davies; D. Langdon (C. Clement 72), C. Morgans (T. Barry 72); N. Downs, A. Littlehales (R. Clancy 55), J. Reeves (T. Price 63), A. Powell, E. Evans, G. Gravell (capt, T. Herdman 68), L. Evans (N. Ace 79), L. Ward



Munster A: Tries – R. O’Mahoney, S. Zebo; Cons: J. J. Hanrahan (2); Pens: J. J. Hanrahan (3)
Team: L. O’Dea; R. O’Mahoney (D. Moroney 72), T. Gleeson, C. Hircock (J. Holland 77), S. Zebo; J. J. Hanrahan, D. Williams (P. Stringer 55); D.Kilcoyne, S. Henry (D. Casey 70), S. Archer (A. Cotter 64), D. Foley (B. O’Hara 68), I. Nagle, B. Holland (capt, B. Hayes 77), P. Butler, T. O’Donnell