National League 3 East B

Newport Saracens 12 Chepstow RFC 17

A LATE try by Hayden Bluck earned Chepstow victory at Sarries last Friday, writes Bob Cypher.

The match, played on a cold, but dry, evening is traditionally a close-fought affair and this was no exception.

Chepstow started the stronger and had long spells of possession early on but it took them 20 minutes to open the score with a Tom Bradley try from a rolling maul.

Sarries responded with a series of forward drives, enabling them to pressurise the Chepstow defence for most of the second quarter, ending with the home side scoring a try under the posts, which was converted to make the score 7-5 at the break.

The second half began with Chepstow enjoying territorial advantage and after a prolonged period of pressure in the home 22-metre area, their captain Ted Edwards crossed the whitewash, with Jonathan Thomas converting.

In typical fashion, it was the Newport side’s turn to take the game by the scruff of the neck and after multiple phases of play, the home wing scored in the corner to bring the scores level at 12-12.

With 10 minutes remaining, Chepstow number 8 Rhys Cresswell made a break in the midfield to advance his side deep into opposition territory and after a few phases by the forwards, the Chepstow backs moved the ball wide for wing for Bluck to score the winning try.

Chepstow's next game is at home against Nantyglo on Thursday, 12th March, 7.30pm kick off.