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Wow, and breathe !!!

A last gasp try in the 11th minute of injury time, completed a remarkable victory for New Panteg against a devastated Gwernyfed. A bumper crowd were treated to a proper cup tie, with no quarter asked or given. This Welsh Cup quarter final was in doubt up to half an hour before kick off, due to a heavy frost, but the groundstaff worked their magic.

Gwernyfed started the game in the ascendancy and quietened the home support with a cleverly worked driving maul score early on, which was well converted. Teg were soon on level terms, when number 8 Sargent entered the backline at pace. He burst through heavy traffic, putting the visiting defence on the back foot. The ball was quickly and skillfully passed through the three-quarters for Bury to touch down in the corner. An outstanding kick from the touchline by Bury levelled the scores, before a high tackle offence gave him the chance to nudge Teg in front. A thumping tackle by Sargent was deemed dangerous by the match official, and the resulting penalty drew Gwernyfed level at the break.

The second half was increasingly intense, with robust defence from both sides cancelling out any attacking play. It took a moment of excellence from centre Jones to unlock Gwernyfed, and it was his searing break and clever offload, which allowed winger Gomez to race over unopposed. Bury could not repeat his touchline heroics of the first try, as the conversion sailed narrowly wide. This resulted in a sustained period of heavy pressure for Teg, as Gwernyfed threw the kitchen sink at them. There was a moment of controversy when Gwernyfed were convinced they had crossed wide out, but the referee deemed the ball to be held up. However in the final minutes the continued duress on the home defence proved unsustainable, and Gwernyfed levelled with a well deserved score. Their evergreen fly half, who was exceptional all afternoon, nervelessly slotted the difficult kick, to take the lead and seemingly the game. Teg have an incredible spirit within the squad, which is difficult to describe to the uninformed, but this rose to the surface in abundance when all seemed lost. Bury took a quick restart tapping the ball 10 metres to himself, and offloading to replacement fly half Winstone. Winstones pace and elusiveness took him just short of the tryline, where a series of nail-biting scrums began. Gwernyfed held firm in the face of a ferocious forward onslaught, until Teg change tactics and spread the ball wide. The ball was swiftly transferred to sprinter Gomez, who squeezed in despite an incredible defensive effort. The referee took an age to award the try, but his eventual decision was greeted with wild celebrations and huge relief from the Teg contingent. Gwernyfed will no doubt be traumatised to lose in such fashion but must take solace in their fantastic contribution to a wonderful contest.

With huge performances from the whole squad, the coaches named scrum half Edmunds as man of the match for his tigerish all round performance. We move on to the semi final and the dream of playing at the Principality continues.