Ravens Squad V Llanelli

[mikerob]

I reckon the Ravens squad has 5 players with full international caps (ok, a number of those were against the USA and Canada...) and 9 players with A international caps. Not bad for a 2nd XV.

[YoungMan]

Stronger squad than we give credit for..............

[BPH]

To be fair, only Pollock would be in our 1st XV out of that pack (assuming Chris has displaced Diack on merit, which I assume he has)

Only NOC and Jamie Smith could claim to be first choices in their positions in the backline too, so I'm happy with the call. Would've preferred a few younger guys benching, but maybe Llanelli have a strong team out

[The FRU]

21 - 21 ffs!

[YoungMan]

FMS

[Neill_M]

should still top the group even if welsh get a bonus win, two homes games to come. all the talk about the relevant strength/weakness of the team, guys need game time before the dragons game next week which will be tough and its always good to win things!

[Red Hand Hero]

Thats a very, very poor result considering the team we had out. Llanelli RFC had only Knoyle, Cooper and Rhys Thomas playing from the Scarlets squad playing afaik. Stradey hoo-doo continues.

[cables]

Losing 14 - 6 at HT. Then turned it round to 14 - 21 only to concede a last minute converted try.

BTW. Aberavon v Moseley postponed due to frozen pitch. Newport beat Gael Force 27 - 5.

[The Boo Radleys]

Ravens Draw In Llanelli 21-21

12 February 2010, 9:48 pmBy John Dickson

The Ulster Ravens drew 21-21 in the 3rd round of the British and Irish Cup against Llanelli at Parc y Scarlets this evening. The Ulstermen put in a lethargic first half display then surrendered a 14-21 lead, conceding a last minute converted try.
The Ulstermen were first to score when Niall O’Connor slotted a penalty goal from the 10-metre line in the 10th minute, putting the Ravens 0-3 clear.

Within five minutes the Llanelli out half Dan Newton had equaled the score, when he slotted a penalty goal, after the Ravens had been pinged for not releasing. 3-3.

O’Connor was on target with another long range effort in the 17th minute, but no sooner had the Ulstermen put their noses in front, their discipline slipped, they strayed offside allowing Newton to tie the scores once again at 6-6.

The home side took the lead for the first time in the 24th minute after Cillian Willis was penalised for a high tackle. Newton bisecting the uprights to take his side 9-6 in front for the first time.

The game had been littered with infringements, in the 33rd minute the referee had seen enough and yellow carded Ryan Caldwell for collapsing a maul. As the Ravens struggled towards halftime with 14 men the home side started to lift their game taking play deep into the Ravens 22. In the 39th minute the Llanelli pack set up a maul close to the Ravens line, with tight head Rhys Thomas driven over for an unconverted try.

The Ravens turned round 14-6 down at halftime needing a big improvement in performance during the second half. In the 43rd minute Caldwell was replace by Ed O’Donoghue, then Willie Faloon replace Robbie Diack in the 50th minute, T.J. Anderson moving to number 8.

Paul Marshall replaced Willis in 54th minute, and the introduction of the fresh legs seemed to perk up the Ulster performance. It was now Llanelli’s turn to infringe causing the referee to brandish his yellow card for a second time, on this occasion the Llanelli openside Nic Cudd was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes.

The Ravens took full advantage, lifting their game they started to press the home defence. In the 62nd minute Ian Humphreys replaced O’Connor and Adam Macklin replaced Declan Fitzpatrick, but entering the final 10 minutes the Ravens still trailed by 14-11.

With just 8 minutes remaining the visitors struck, good work by the pack secured turnover ball allowing winger Tommy Seymour put in a lovely chip ahead. As the home defence struggled to clear the danger Paul Marshall arrived and grubbered the ball free, he managed to control the ball beautifully and gathered across the line for an excellent try. Humphreys failed to add the extras leaving the Ravens trailing 14-11 with 7 minutes remaining.

From the restart the visitors took play straight back into the home 22 where the pack pushed Llanelli onto their line through a series of well controlled pick and drives. In the 74th minute as the home defence struggled to hold the Ravens at bay, Mark McCrea bursting through to score a well worked try. Humphreys added the extras to take the Ulstermen into the lead 14-18 with less than 6 minutes to play.

Nigel Brady replaced David Pollock in the 77th minute, and then the Ravens looked to have secured victory when Humphreys converted a penalty goal in the 79th minute to take them 14-21 clear.

As the clock ticked into injury time the home side mounted one final attack. As play centred on the edge of the Ravens 22, Llanelli flanker Aaron Shingler burst clear, he brushed past one weak tackle as he headed for the Ravens line. With the whitewash in his sights he brushed past a second attempted tackle and managed to smash his way over to score a dramatic last minute try. Newton added the conversion to tie the score at 21 points apiece, and the final whistle blew.
This was a bitter blow for the Ulstermen who had fought so hard to get themselves in front with just one minute remaining. The Ravens now top the table by 2 points; with Geoff Irvine’s Bedford Blues travelling to London Welsh tomorrow The Ravens will hope that the northerners can take a few points off the Welshmen.

Ulster Ravens Manager Gary Longwell said, “We are all bitterly disappointed with the result. It was a lethargic first half performance, and then we did well in the second half to assume control of the game with two well-taken scores. The lack of concentration in the final minutes was difficult to take after doing so much hard work. We have to learn from this, these games are all about bringing the young players on, and they have certainly learned from this game this evening. We now move on and look forward to London Welsh visiting Ravenhill on the 26th February, it is certain to be a crucial game for us.”

Llanelli - 15 Johnny Lewis, 14 Jason Howells, 13 Nick Reynolds, 12.Chris Keenan, 11 Dale Ford, 10 Dan Newton, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Duane Eager, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Vernon Cooper, 4 Adam Powell, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Craig Hawkins (Captain), 1 Shaun Hopkins.

Replacements: 16 Jamie Corsi, 17 Rhys Lawrence, 18 Rhydian Geriat, 19 Nathan White, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Justin James, 22 Steve Martin.

Ulster Ravens - 1. Bryan Young, 2. Andi Kyriacou (Captain), 3. Declan Fitzpatrick, 4. Neil McComb, 5. Ryan Caldwell, 6. Thomas Anderson, 7. David Pollock, 8. Robbie Diack, 9. Cillian Willis, 10. Niall O’Connor, 11. Timoci Nagusa, 12. Ian Whitten 13. Mark McCrea, 14. Tommy Seymour, 15. Jamie Smith.

Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Adam Macklin, 18 Ed O’Donoghue, 19 Willie Faloon, 20 Paul Marshall, 21 Ian Humphreys and 22 Darren Cave

[Freddie Benson]

Interesting how we were trailing 14 - 11 both before and after Marshall's try

[chunky]

Caldwell binned again

[ArticDonkey]

Who missed the tackle at the end?

[againstthehead]

sheesh, what a poor result.

[cables]

Interesting how we were trailing 14 - 11 both before and after Marshall's try

The article was subsequently changed to read 14 - 6 with 10 minutes to go.

In 10 minutes we turned 14 - 6 round to 14 - 21 and then leaked a converted try to finish at 21 - 21.

Who ALL missed their tackles at the end?

Fixed that for you Artic.

[ArticDonkey]

Who ALL missed their tackles at the end?

Fixed that for you Artic.

Yeah I'm sure it was more than one but I thought this was slightly ominous:

As play centred on the edge of the Ravens 22, Llanelli flanker Aaron Shingler burst clear, he brushed past one weak tackle as he headed for the Ravens line.

Just wondering who it was?