Ebbw Vale RFC v Newport RFC – 18th May 2025 by John Evans
So, it all boiled down to this. One game, winner takes all.
There wasn’t one bookmaker tipping Newport to win, and they were correct, of course; Ebbw Vale finished higher in the standings than Newport and were undefeated at Eugene Cross Park all season, including two defeats of the Black & Ambers. Most websites were also predicting a one score margin either way, so it was bound to be tight. Ebbw had also seen off an excellent Llandovery side in their semi-final, so it was going to be quite a task to come away with a win.
Newport made just the one change from the fantastic win at Cardiff. Injured Lloyd Lewis watched the game from the stand while Dai Richards covered the wing position. Other than that, it was ‘same again’ from Ty Morris.
The weather was beautiful; a long spell of dry weather firmed the pitch up nicely, while the sun shone onto the packed bank at Eugene Cross Park. A reported crowd of over 4000 filled the old ground up nicely, making a nice extra payday for the club.
Newport defended the clubhouse end of the ground in the first half, as Ebbw’s outside half, Evan Lloyd, got the game underway. Iestyn Galton made contact with the ball, but the referee, Mr Ben Breakspear, judged that Ebbw had taken out the Newport winger in the air and awarded the Black & Ambers a penalty.
Newport were caught offside in the 5th minute, Evan Lloyd kicking Ebbw up to the 22 on the stand side. Their big forwards rumbled forward in a maul, but the defence was exemplary, halting the movement and making the Steelmen play. Unfortunately, Newport erred again when there was no release in a tackle directly in front of the posts. Evan Lloyd took the easy option, motioned at the sticks and slotted a penalty to make it Ebbw Vale 3 Newport 0 with 8 minutes played.
Vale fullback Morgan Richards kicked long, but the Newport back 3 wisely left the ball roll dead, giving Newport possession back where the ball was kicked. Dafydd Buckland kicked the ball to the corner, but Ebbw tried to run from deep until Evan Lloyd booted the ball long. Newport countered, making good ground, but the final pass to Iestyn Galton was unsympathetic.
Unfortunately, an injury to Kyle Tayler meant that his game was over. He was replaced by the departing legend, former captain Rhys Jenkins who would be retiring after the game. 245 games for Newport, 0 backward steps from this warrior.
The Black & Ambers infringed giving Evan Lloyd the opportunity to put his side close to the Newport line. Flanker Sion Parry was lofted high, but the rolling maul was well marshalled by Newport. Ebbw went for the phases, big men hurling themselves onto the Black & Amber rocks, but they knocked on and Newport could kick clear. Ebbw compounded their mistake by losing the lineout, then taking out a player while in the air again. Jac Lloyd stepped forward and slotted the penalty kick to equalise the scores at 3-3 with 21 minutes played.
The visitors enjoyed their first real spell of quality possession around the 25-minute mark but couldn’t really penetrate the rugged defence. Ebbw centre Dom Franchi infringed, but with no advantage being gained, Newport put themselves into the corner for their first genuine attack of the game. Unfortunately, the ball was massively overthrown letting the Steelmen off the hook. Again, a compounding of errors as the next line out wasn’t straight. However, Newport were about to get their noses in front. Ben Roach broke the initial defensive line, Josh Skinner was lurking out on the wing, Jac Lloyd tried a cross-kick to Carwyn Penny, but the ball was put into touch off a Vale hand. The lineout worked perfectly, Tyler Olding and Josh Skinner combining on a front-of-line ‘funny’. George Young battered forward, Newport getting their own phases going. Jonny Morris, Tom Devine, and Chay Foster-Smith all went close, but the Ebbw guards beside the ruck took one step too far to the right and left 6 inches of grass uncovered. Dafydd Buckland was well aware of this and sniped, dotting down the ball for the first try of the game. Jac Lloyd slotted the two-pointer to make it Ebbw Vale 3 Newport 10 with 32 minutes played.
The Steelmen yielded another penalty on 34 minutes, Jac Lloyd opting to tap and go quickly. Carwyn Penny was alive to the situation, but he became increasingly outnumbered. The Newport pack arrived en masse to recover the ball, but Ebbw Vale strayed offside. Jac Lloyd nodded at the posts, but the contact wasn’t great, and the ball sailed to the left.
Iestyn Galton made a good tackle on 38 minutes but was unfortunate to find himself lying across the ball, conceding a penalty. Evan Lloyd made the kick from 40-metres look easy, making the score Ebbw Vale 6 Newport 10.
Ebbw Vale kicked the ball out on the full on 40 minutes, Josh Skinner winning the lineout and Jonny Morris bursting through the cover. Jac Lloyd tried the cross-kick to Carwyn Penny again, but it was too much for the fullback to do. But better was to come. With possession regained, Dai Richards, Chay Foster-Smith, and Jonny Morris worked hard to keep the ball alive. Dai Richards seemed to have a gap open up before him before it snapped firmly shut on the winger, Newport went hard at the breakdown, Ollie Drake adding his bulk to the effort before the ball worked free. A pass out to Jac Lloyd and the outside half simply jinked back inside against some sluggish defending to extend Newport’s lead. Jac Lloyd then converted his own try to bring the half to a close.
Half Time: Ebbw Vale RFC 6 Newport RFC 17
Jac Lloyd restarted the game, but The Steelmen managed to kick the ball out on the full from the ruck. The Newport lineout didn’t work, Vale kicking clear, but Carwyn Penny fielded the kick and returned likewise. Home scrum half, the improbably named Gruff Tough, couldn’t hold the pass particularly well, but managed to move it on enough, but the following kick was direct to touch giving Newport a good platform to attack from. Ben Roach took the ball at the lineout, but the rolling maul stalled. The Black & Ambers went for phases but coughed up possession when a ball-carrier was penalised for a double movement trying to protect the ball.
Ebbw number 8 Ryan Jenkins had klaxons sounding in the Newport defence as he strode, ball in hand, up to the Newport 22. The big men in red, white, and green biffed their way forward, edging closer to the line, but prop Adam Williams fumbled under pressure from the Newport defence. But Ebbw were about to make a mark on the game with a try of their own from Ewan Bowden. A mighty scrum from the hosts edged Newport backwards. Ebbw Vale then put all their efforts into attacking the Newport line. Wave upon wave of attacks, matched by a similar number of penalties from Newport which they would need to cut out quickly. However, Ebbw were getting little joy from the close quarters; they need to put some air on the ball. Gruff Tough spotted Ewan Bowden sparsely marked on the wing, placed a well-aimed kick and the winger beat his cover to touch down. Evan Lloyd missed the conversion to make the score Ebbw Vale 11 Newport 17 with 47 minutes played.
Newport responded almost instantly. Evan Lloyd kicked long again, Iestyn Galton passing infield to Carwyn Penny. He chipped ahead, chasing his own kick. The bounce of the ball outfoxed Gruff Tough, Carwyn Penny scooping it up and sprinting to the corner, riding an attempted ankle-tap as he went. Jac Lloyd squeezed the ball through the posts from the tight angle to make it Ebbw Vale 17 Newport 24 on 49 minutes.
Ollie Drake’s shift was over. He was replaced by Garin Harris on 52 minutes, just before Ebbw Vale replied. Ebbw were keeping the ball alive well, interpassing neatly along their right flank. Carwyn Penny intercepted a pass before passing infield. Newport hovered their metaphorical hand over the self-destruct button, however. The Black & Ambers seemed casual and were quickly snared. The ball bobbled loose, and a phalanx of Ebbw players were onto it in a flash, the try eventually being credited to second row Curtis Gregory. Evan Lloyd kicked the conversion to make the score Ebbw Vale 18 Newport 24 on 55 minutes.
Ebbw went off their feet at a ruck 3 minutes later. From 37-metres, stand side, Jac Lloyd swung his boot at the penalty kick to make it Ebbw Vale 18 Newport 27.
Tom Devine and Tyler Olding had done their bit, and they were replaced by Tom Workman and Wade Langley on the hour.
Iestyn Galton nearly got himself on the scoreboard on 61 minutes. Ebbw centre Ethan Phillips fumbled the ball in attack. Jac Lloyd hacked the ball through and ran ahead, passing infield to Iestyn Galton who found a terrific line to flummox the Ebbw defence and score under the posts. Unfortunately, the Television Match Official, Ms, Jenny Davies, alerted Mr Breakspear to a forward pass in the build-up, so the score was chalked off.
Newport won a scrum penalty as the Ebbw front row turned inwards. Jac Lloyd tried to extend the lead further, but his kick didn’t trouble the posts, and The Steelmen could clear their lines.
Max Williams was withdrawn on 69 minutes, Josh Reid taking his place, with George Young moving up to second row. In further changes, Chay Foster-Smith was replaced by Matt O’Brien, Jac Lloyd moving out to centre, while Iestyn Galton was replaced by another retiring legend, Elliot Frewen, on 74 minutes. Elliot, with 230 games under his Black & Amber belt, is a real fan favourite at Newport RFC. Described by former S&C coach Dean Fouache as “pound for pound the strongest man in the Newport squad”, Elliot’s pinballing, jack-in-the-box type runs have had supporters on the edge of their seats for many seasons, and any such runs by Newport wings will, henceforth, be described as Frewen-esque in future.
Ebbw Vale gained a scrum penalty on 80 minutes as the clock ticked agonisingly slowly. Evan Lloyd punted his pack to the corner, Curtis Gregory took the lineout ball, flanker Sion Parry drove at the blind side before a series of slow, heavy drives that were difficult to resist rained in on the Newport tryline. Mr. Breakspear issued a warning that any further Newport offences would see a player in the bin. Ebbw Vale reset and launched a ball at the tail of the line out. Again, the rolling maul was resisted but illegally said Mr. Breakspear. Josh Skinner was singled out and sent to the dugout. Ebbw reset again, with a super drive over the line, but Mr Breakspear judged that the ball was held up, his hand action being greeted like a try by the many travelling Newport supporters. Ebbw then conceded a penalty which meant that Newport could fully clear the decks.
Unfortunately, Elliot Frewen was replaced himself on 80+6 minutes following a knock to his head, so Luke Crane was introduced with Dafydd Buckland acting as a makeshift wing.
It was a case now of Newport running down the clock. The telly was showing that there was still 4 minutes to play. Ebbw tried to run the ball, but time wasn’t on their side. Ben Roach managed to rip the ball clear but knocked on. Tick tock. Against the odds, the underpowered pack managed to drive Ebbw Vale backwards on 80+8 minutes, the ball making it’s way out to Matt O’Brien who belted it to touch to end the game and start the party.
What do the bookmakers know, eh?
Full Time: Ebbw Vale RFC 18 Newport RFC 27
Broadcaster S4C chose Jac Lloyd as the Seren y Gem and quite rightly too; the young man was outstanding in everything he did. However, the club chose Jonny Morris, simply because of the full-blooded, confrontational way that he did everything. Many Ebbw attacks floundered on the number 13 jersey. It’s astonishing the amount of games Jonny has played for Newport, that it seems that clubs underestimate his abilities every single time. Long may it continue.
Onwards and upwards Newport.
Your City. Your Colours. Your Club
#cotp
Newport RFC Man of the Match; Jonny Morris
Final Score – Ebbw Vale RFC 18 Newport RFC 27