Caerphilly v Llanelli (Celtic League)

Half-time: Caerphilly 15 - Llanelli 29
Celtic league fixture played home at Virginia Park on Saturday 7th September 2002
Attendance 2,500
Referee: Nigel Owens (Pontyberem)

A THRILLING fightback by Caerphilly was enough to leave a star-studded Llanelli side hanging on at the final whistle.
True, the end result was another Celtic League defeat but plenty of positives could be drawn from the performance.
The Cheesemen ran in five tries and produced spells of flowing Rugby - if only they had come out of the blocks quicker.
Head Coach Mark Ring was spot on when he said after the match that Caerphilly had shown the Scarlets "too much respect" but any side would have struggled to contain the visitors in the opening half-hour.
By that time, Caerphilly had already conceded five tries, were 29-3 down and only had a Luke Richards penalty to show for their efforts.
Three minutes was all it took for Llanelli wing Mark Jones to burst through and claim the first try and he quickly added another just five minutes later after a great move involving Welsh international Scott Quinnell and Wayne Proctor.
Quinnell was proving the driving force for Llanelli, playing a part in the third try that set up Stephen Jones and dodging Caerphilly challenges to help make another five points for Ian Boobyer.
Stephen Jones kicked the conversion and Dafydd Jones added another try before Caerphilly fly Luke Richards created a try for Paul Jones.
An opportunist tap-penalty by Richards left Paul Jones to power over the line, just after the half-hour. More was to follow for Caerphilly, roared on by a vocal Virginia Park crowd.
Tongan international Sione Tuipolutu and Jarrod Murphy combined to put in Mark Workman for a vital try just before the interval.
Luke Richards kicked the conversion and left the score at a respectable 15-29 at the break.
Llanelli withdrew five players at the interval including Scott Quinnell and Stephen Jones.
The second-half began with more encouragement for the home side as the other Tongan Taunaholo Taufehema intercepted a stray Matt Cardie pass to power through on his own for another try.
Unfortunately he had to go off injured as a result and worse was to follow for Caerphilly as two Gareth Bowen penalty-kicks made the score 22-35.
Bowen then extended the lead for Llanelli after intercepting a pass by Caerphilly replacement prop Darren Sweet.
A spirited response from the Cheesemen saw Gareth Jones score another try and Richards kicking between the posts to set up a gripping finale.
Caerphilly pushed the Scarlets back but a Tuipolutu try in injury time came a bit late to make Llanelli sweat too much.
Match report courtesy of Chris Slavin (Caerphilly Campaign)

Digital photograpy above by John Harris & Mark Tamplin
Digital photography below courtesy of Huw Evans Picture Agency

Match statistics by Phil Whitfield