Last gasp Nottingham break Cardiff hearts.
By Dewi Williams
A try and penalty from the visitors in the closing minutes denied Cardiff a famous victory at Llanrumney. Having overturned a 26-7 half time deficit to lead 28-26 with 10 minutes left, Cardiff were set to pick up back to back wins, only for Nottingham to secure a last gasp victory.
Cardiff returned to Llanrumney for the first time this year after last week’s away win at Swansea. The opening exchanges were error strewn, with ill-discipline and a lack of cohesion in both teams’ attack. Nottingham dominated possession however, and despite a strong defensive effort from Cardiff in the opening ten minutes, Nottingham opened the scoring with a try in the corner.
Cardiff responded well. Nottingham threw long at a lineout, hooker Dylan Line, breaking the line, and making his way into the Nottingham half. A penalty against Nottingham followed, and after a kick to the corner and a well-executed lineout, Dylan Line got over. Tomi Booth successful with the conversion.
Nottingham dominated the remainder of the first half. Their power up front and their pace behind caused problems for the Cardiff defence. Following a break from Nottingham wing Julian Nunn, the visitors took the lead with captain Ben Glanville scoring, and two minutes later Nottingham openside Lawrence Adediran bolstered their lead with another score. Replacement Charlie Cook added the extra two points for both tries, making the score at half time Cardiff 7 – 19 Nottingham.
As the second half got underway, Cardiff didn’t make things any easier for themselves. A penalty against the home side saw Nottingham enter into the Cardiff twenty-two, with the visitors coming away with another converted try after some heavy phases up front. With the score Cardiff 7 – 26 Nottingham, the game – at this point – was quite a one-sided affair.
Nottingham continued to attack in the following minutes, but Cardiff held them out. This seemed to boost Cardiff’s confidence on both sides of the ball, with hooker Dylan Line making another influential contribution after some gutsy Cardiff defence. The hooker broke the line and got the ball out to supporting winger Elis Bird who grubbered the ball forward, forcing Nottingham to play within their own territory. Cardiff eventually got their hands back on the ball, and following some brute force from the pack, replacement Jack Beazer crossed the line with Tomi Booth once again successful from the kicking tee.
Nottingham continued to pile on the pressure with their physicality, but the Cardiff defence stood strong once again, with one period of promising Nottingham play being unceremoniously ended by a hoof downfield from Cardiff winger Jack Thomas. Possession made its way back into Cardiff hands, and following some play downfield, Tomi Booth broke through the green wall of Nottingham’s defence after an effective dummy. The number 10 converted his own try to make the score 21 – 26 with 15 minutes left.
With the game in the balance, the momentum was with the home side. A perfectly executed spiral bomb from Tomi Booth saw Nottingham winger Alex Garrett drop the ball into the dead ball area, resulting in a five meter scrum for Cardiff. Phase after phase Cardiff crashed into Nottingham bodies, short of the line, until replacement lock Tom Purchas barged his way over into the Nottingham goal area. Tomi Booth once again was successful with his conversion, giving Cardiff the lead 28 – 26.
Nottingham responded with sustained attacking pressure and despite Cardiff’s brave defensive efforts, a Nottingham penalty was eventually awarded. Replacement Charlie Cook stepped up to take the kick, and from around 37 metres out, he regained the lead for Nottingham with 3 points. Cardiff continued to show plenty of character to try and steal the game at the death, but it was Nottingham that would close the game out, scoring a try in the last play from a rolling maul. At the final whistle, the score Cardiff 28 – 34 Nottingham.
Not the five points that Cardiff would’ve hoped for, but a valuable two bonus points to stretch the gap between them and last place. Cardiff head over the Severn Bridge next week to face Bath away, where Captain Bill Moxey said they’ll be aiming to “spoil the party”.
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