Match Report

Swansea 14 - Neath 27

St Helens, Sat 29th Dec 07 KO: 14:30

Swansea 14 Neath 27

TANDY'S TRY COULD PROVE CRUCIAL AS NEATH GO TOP

Tony Poole at St Helens

Champions Neath rang out the old year with a seventh successive league victory over Ospreys partners Swansea.

Having beaten Aberavon 43-12 on Boxing Day, this formed a second bonus-point victory of the week, and it was enough to restore the Blacks as Principality Welsh Premiership leaders.

You have to go all the way back to January 2004 to find the last time the Whites got one over the Blacks.

That 21-13 victory at St Helen's completed a league double, but since then Neath have ruled the roost.

But during this latest encounter, Neath could never quite shake off Swansea, who battled hard and could count themselves unfortunate to lose by 13 points.

After Swansea captain and prop Andrew Clatworthy dabbed down in the 50th minute, the scoreboard stayed on 22-14 until the fifth minute of time added on.

The scorer from the game's final move was livewire Ospreys flanker Steve Tandy, who burst clear from a ruck to touchdown.

That wrapped up a precious bonus point for the Blacks that might prove even more significant come the end of season.

But during the second half, Swansea were in with a shout and if full-back Nicky Thomas had improved on a goal-kicking success rate of three out of six, it might have been different.

"We tended to turnover too much ball, and this led to us coming under pressure during the second half," said Neath head coach Rowland Phillips.

"Swansea pieced together some decent phases and with only an eight-point lead we had to remain switched on.

"But to get a result at Swansea was excellent - and the bonus point was a real bonus."

Phillips went on sing the praises of lock Euros Evans, who once again got through a copious amount of work.

He added: "Euros Evans is a no-nonsense kind of guy, who gets the job done and is well respected by our fans. He not only lived up to this billing against Swansea, but seems to perform it week in week out."

On the other side of the fence, Swansea coach Richard Webster pointed to several chances going begging.

"I felt the scoreline flattered Neath, especially as our set-piece play was good," he said.

"If we had taken a couple of chances, it might have been different.

"But in the end that was the main difference - Neath took their chances while we did not."

It emerged during the game that Swansea hooker Dean Colclough has played his final game.

When he replaced Andrew Joy in the 75th minute, it was billed a swansong appearance.

"Dean has become a little disillusioned and as he isn't enjoying the game the time was right for him to bow out," confirmed his father Keith Colclough, the former Swansea prop and now assistant coach.

He added: "Now was the time to go as Andrew Joy has recovered from injury.

"That said he might well reassess the situation next summer."

That leaves the Whites with ex-Bridgend man Joy and young Dean Ronan to contest the hooking berth during the remainder of the season.

The Blacks benefited from a swirling wind during the opening half, and went on to construct a 15-9-interval lead.

All the scoring was crammed into the opening 25 minutes with Swansea full-back Nicky Thomas sending over three penalties to one by Neath fly-half Arwel Thomas.

Neath's opening try unfolded in the 10th minute, and stemmed from a series of scrum fives.

Scrum-half Gareth Jones decided to give the ball some air, and full-back Gareth King was worked over for a 43rd all-time league try.

With the Blacks 8-6 to the good, their second try in the 20th minute was down to strong running from centre Stephen Thomas.

It resulted in wing Kevin James collecting a 13th league try of the season - and 22 tries when all games are taken into consideration.

Fly-half Thomas added the extras, but the remainder of the half failed to match early sparkle.

The game went off the boil and yellow cards were dished out to Neath flanker Tandy and opposite number David Blyth during separate incidents.

You sensed that Neath felt it was more than a six-point wind, resulting in them striving for more scores on the resumption.

One of the key moments came in the 46th minute after centre Thomas cut back inside close to the home 22.

He linked with Wales sevens star James Merriman, who had replaced Gerwyn Price at half-time, and the Saundersfoot boy flashed over for a try at the posts.

Thomas once more converted, but four minutes later the Whites were back in contention.

A powerful run from wing Rhys Jones knocked Neath back, and on hand to take a try-scoring pass was captain and prop Andrew Clatworthy.

This proved a red-letter day for the ex-Aberavon and Llanelli man as it coincided with his 100th club appearance.

That brought about the 22-14 logjam with the Whites unable to get any closer.

Fly-half Damian Karauna worked them into optimum field positions on several occasions, but they were unable to turn the screw.

Any kind of score would have placed more pressure on the champions, who nevertheless coped admirably.

And when the time was right, the Blacks struck a telling blow during injury time with Tandy making it two tries from as many games.

Behind the scrum, Neath were well served in midfield by Jonathan Spratt and Thomas while in the pack, back-row men Lee Beach and Tandy along with locks Evans and Steve Martin all went well.

A lot of Swansea's hard graft revolved around locks Michael Collins and Gavin Ronan along with flanker Blyth.

Full-back Nicky Thomas was the pick of the home backs on the strength of elusive running and some booming touchfinders.

But in the end it was Neath's sharper back division that cut the mustard, and they returned to The Gnoll with the points.