by Ben Jones & Jamil Salih
USW made it back-to-back wins in the BUCS Rugby Union South A league as they swept aside local rivals Cardiff Met.
USW struck first through Bryn Goodall, who showed speed and strength to break through the Met defence, touching down under the posts. Ever-reliable Cavan Slade converted.
Sion Edwards added a second moments later, breezing past two defenders to add USW’s second try of the game. Slade converted again.
Met replied instantly. A knock-on by USW and a successful Met scrum set up their No.13 to bring the visitors back into the game.
The gap was stretched as Joe Davies sprinted the length of the field, ending up with Ben Warren scoring the try. Slade made it three-from-three.
The tries kept on coming for USW. A clever chipped pass led to Slade handing off to Liam Greening who got in on the act, making it 28-7 after the conversion.
Met again replied, No.9 received the ball, and with a lucky bobble off the USW defender, put the scrum-half in for the try. No.10 successfully converted.
USW added a fifth try as Edwards charged a kick, Alex Meeson picked up and gave the ball to Geraint Workman, who touched down. Slade added the conversion and a penalty to extend the home side’s lead.
Met finished the half with a try, No.13 got his second of the game as a perfectly weighted pass meant he didn’t have to break stride, closing the gap to 38-21 at the interval.
USW were awarded a penalty on the 53rd minute, Cavan Slade successfully cleared the posts to secure the home side’s first points of the second half.
Four minutes later, a brilliant sequence of play on the left wing saw Joe Davies power through the Met backline to touch down right in the corner. Cavan Slade couldn’t convert which meant the score stood at 46-21.
Joe Davies was in the thick of it again as he used his pace and skill to blitz through Met to touch down under the posts to score his second try of the evening. Slade made no mistake this time as he successfully converted.
As the game began to peter out, Met bundled over their first try of the second half, courtesy of No.5. No.10 successfully converted to make the scoreline 53-28 with 67 minutes on the clock.
The final score of the game came in the 77th minute, courtesy of the hosts. A USW lineout missed everybody, as the ball fell into the arms of Kyle Evans, who touched down well. Goodall’s conversion sailed agonisingly wide.
Victory for USW means that they open up the gap between them and third-placed Bath, who fell to defeat away at Bristol in their respective fixture.
Ben Daniels’ men travel to University of Exeter next week to play out their final fixture of the calendar year.
Star player: Joe Davies
USW: 15. Liam Greening; 14. Cobi Flowers; 13. Jack Shaddick; 12. Bryn Goodall; 11. Joe Davies; 10. Cavan Slade; 9. Geriant Workman; 1. Connor Lewis; 2.Will Haly; 3. Ben Warren; 4. Alex Meeson; 5.Lloyd Evans; 6. Cally James; 7.Sion Edwards; 8. Gareth Jones (C)
Replacements: 16. T Stacey; 17. J Popple; 18. J Pritchard; 19. I Davies; 20. C Taylor; 21. K Evans; 22. L Herdman; 23. J Parkinson
