This cup encounter was a repeat of the 2006 cup final and very similar in that it became a war of attrition.
Both sides refused to give any ground until Llanelli broke the deadlock with a try on 20 minutes. A high tackle by the Cardiff defence gifted Llanelli a quick tap penalty 15 metres from the home sides try line. Cardiff failed to retire 10 metres and the referee, allowed another quick tap to be taken despite the protests of the Cardiff team. The try was awarded and Cardiff A side suffered their first try against them since October 2007.
Llanelli pressured the Cardiff line again, displaying a dogged and determined approach. A knock on by the Scarlet half backs saw the referee play advantage. John hunt (Cathedral) gathered the ball and set up a quick ruck. Luke Fish (St. Albans) passed a perfectly weighted ball to full back Breandan Nap (Cathedral) who hit the line at pace. He drew two defenders to offload to Jessie Lipetz Robic (Ysgol Mynydd Bychan). A floated ball found wing Connor Martin (St. Johns College) in space, but good pressure from the defence saw the ball fumbled. This seemed to be the order of the day with both sides making unnecessary errors.
Continued pressure by the Cardiff pack created a platform and the backs passed the ball well along the line to skipper and flanker Sydney Blackmore. He bulldozed his way over the line to equal the scores.
Half time 5 -5
Llanelli threw everything into attack and with 15 minutes of the second half gone, a well worked move made space for an away side score. The try was converted. With the clock ticking down, Cardiff knew that they had to score twice to proceed to the next round. The Scarlet defence were under immediate pressure as Cardiff hammered away at the Llanelli line. With minutes remaining it was Blackmore again who barged over to score.
Liam Free (Glyncoed) opted not to take the conversion in the hope that enough time was left to secure the all important winning points.
From the kick off, Cardiff collected the ball well and drove straight into the heart of the Llanelli defence. Tired arms showed as a few tackles were missed and once again it was skipper Blackmore who saved the day to touch down in the final two minutes.
Cardiff progress to the quarter final stage and have drawn their Blues region counterparts Pontypridd win what offers to be another exciting encounter.
Man of the Match A wonderfully determined and gritty team performance allowed Sydney Blackmore to claim his hat trick.
Next Matches v Terenure College Dublin Friday 29th February 2008 Kick off 4.30pm
V Pontypridd (DC Thomas) Saturday 8th March 2008. Venue and time TBC
Recent results
Pontypool A 10 Cardiff B 0
Cardiff A 26 Newport A 0
Cardiff A 28 South Powys A 0
Cardiff B 55 St Michaels College C (Dublin) 0
Cardiff B 45 St Michaels College B(Dublin) 0
Cardiff A 35 St Michaels College 0
Cardiff B 25 Terenure College B (Dublin) 10
Cardiff B 85 Terenure College C (Dublin) 0
Cardiff A 12 Terenure College