Match Report

Ebbw Vale 29 - Neath 10

Eugene Cross Park , Sat 25th Oct 08 KO: 14:30

WITH the country in the midst of a credit crunch, champions Neath seem bankrupt in hunger.
During one of the most inept displays seen from the Blacks since the curtain went up on the Welsh Premiership back in 2003, they lacked motivation.
But the most worrying aspect of a dreadful display against Ebbw Vale was an apparent lackadaisical attitude.
Only one team wanted to be at Eugene Cross Park on a cold autumn afternoon - and it certainly wasn't Neath.
Once again far too many players went missing once they failed to get any joy out of a well-marshalled defence.

Neath never seriously threatened the home try line, and a penalty try - awarded for a succession of scrum offences - was always going to be the only source of a five-pointer.
More Steelmen had fire in their bellies, with three ex-Neath players - flanker Simon Pengelly, centre Aaron Bramwell and scrum-half Rob Lewis - having points to prove.
They did so in stunning fashion after Neath had seemingly done the hard part in holding Vale to 6-3 into the wind.
The Blacks even made the right noises on the restart, with Kiwi scrum-half Kevin Farrell sniping behind the pack.
But it all went wrong in the 50th minute when a line-out inside the Neath 22 led to a turnover, and ex-Wizard Kristian Owen glided over for the pivotal try.

Confidence in the Neath camp nosedived and, unlike previous seasons, there was no will to put things right.
The tide had once more turned and with Neath again lacking composure, dodgy passes from replacement full-back Matthew Nuthall and scrum-half Farrell led to the pumped up Steelmen collecting interception tries.
The previous week two interception tries by Ryan Howells led to Cardiff winning at Neath, and this time around wing James Lewis and centre Owen made hay.

Remarkably, this was the third occasion for James Lewis to score an interception try against Neath - two seasons ago his try set up a home win for Bedwas, while last winter it benefited Vale during their Gnoll triumph.
"Unlike the three other defeats this season, Ebbw Vale deserved to beat Neath - end of story," said head coach Patrick Horgan, who returned to Neath from Ebbw Vale last summer.
"But the lack of hunger shown throughout the Neath side was chilling.
"The manner of the defeat was all the more alarming given the spirit in the changing room remains high and players are happy with the structure.''
However, the sense of expectancy associated with a semi-professional town team, despite the advent of the Ospreys, looks as if it has caught up with the class of 2008.

Neath have regularly dished up silverware over the past five seasons, four titles and two cup victories highlighting the point.
One disgruntled fan on leaving Eugene Cross Park said: "That's the league gone. Now let's concentrate on retaining the cup.''
But what the supporter neglected to say is that Neath claimed a fourth successive title last winter with a record showing six defeats.
However, Neath are now in a trough, and in this mood Llandovery this Saturday is suddenly no pushover.

Club director of rugby Rowland Phillips is obviously concerned, but getting to the root cause is another matter.
"It's a situation that is not easy to pinpoint, as it could be either an attitude or technical problem," he said.
"We did well to hold Ebbw Vale 6-3 into the wind, but our second-half performance was not what we spoke about during the interval.
"I'm not in the business of stabbing people in the back and without doubt this is going to be a massive week as the stakes are getting higher.
"We have created expectation through recent successes, and the performance against Ebbw Vale was both disappointing and utterly frustrating.
"But it's still not too late to turn things around, and we will sit down this week in a calm manner to try to work things out.''

Neath gave Vale first use of a strong wind, and it seemed job done when Vale went in only 6-3 to the good.
Centre Bramwell kicked two penalties compared to one from Neath's latest New Zealand recruit fly-half Matty James.
But after the Blacks failed to turn pressure into points during a 10-minute spell of dominance, a try came at the other end.
Centre Owen touched down in the 50th minute with Bramwell converting and adding a penalty to make it 16-3 on the hour.
Wing James Lewis sprinted 70 metres for his latest telling contribution against Neath on 73 minutes, and soon after centre Owen received a similar gift-wrapped present.

It wasn't until five minutes into time added on that Neath were awarded a penalty try, goaled by replacement Matthew Jarvis, but even then Vale rounded things off with a penalty from ex-Dunvant fly-half Andrew Williams.

TONY POOLE