Brynley Toms and his Cardiff Rugby Football Club teammates secured a bonus point Eight Try 50 - 15 win overt Merthyr in the pool stages of the Indigo Premiership Cup.
It started well for Cardiff. Right from the start, they showed their attacking intent, running from deep and causing Merthyr all sorts of defensive issues. It was no surprise when they registered on their first try. A penalty was kicked to the corner, and when the lineout drive was stopped, Morgan Allen was on hand to crash over.
Merthyr was soon on the board too as Gareth Thompson landed a penalty. But the Blue & Blacks were in the mood to score tries and when the scrum was stopped near the Ironmen’s line Marc Thomas had the last of several picks and drives to go over. Dan Fish converted.
The set piece did eventually reap rewards for the home side. A lineout close to the visitor's line was driven several times before Joey Tomlinson swept round the side to reach out and score., Fish again converted. And just before half time, they had secured the bonus point. This time the backs created space and a long pass out wide was collected by James Beal was squeezed over in the corner for a 24-3 lead.
The second half saw more of the same. Cardiff shut down any Merthyr attacks and always looked likely to score when they had the ball. Only a forward pass prevented try number five as a sweeping move saw Cameron Winnett and Joe Goodchild exchange passes to create an opportunity. A few minutes into the second half the fifth try did come. Cardiff had worked their way down into the Merthyr half and when Jason Harries went through a big hole in the defense only to be stopped short the recycled ball was popped to Tomlinson who scored his second. Fish was again on target with the extras. It was now all one-way traffic as Cardiff took complete control
Running from everywhere on the field the sixth try is already a contender for try of the season. Harries, Goodchild and Winnett combined to beat the Merthyr defense, and with just the full-back to beat a simple pass from Winnett put Tom Habberfield over under the posts.
Habberfield was to get the seventh too as he finished another beautiful backs move after the forwards had again turned over the ball. Merthyr grabbed two tries of their own both scored by Daffydd Thomas, but Cardiff had their eight-try between those two as once again Merthyr was turned over and moved the ball, Goodchild this time the scorer with Harrison James converting.
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