The Great Western Railway All-Line Cup Final
Saturday 11th April 1931 at the Gnoll, Neath
CARMARTHEN GWR Loco XV – v – NEWPORT DOCKS GWR Loco XV
Newport Loco XV 19 – Carmarthen Loco XV 18
(By kind permission of the Carmarthen Journal)
The Great Western Railway All-Line Cup final, which was played at the Gnoll, Neath on Saturday between the Carmarthen and Newport Docks teams, resulted in a win for Newport by the narrowest possible margin – two converted goals and three tries (19 points) to a converted goal, a dropped goal, two penalty goals and a try (18 points). A splendid game was witnessed and whilst the Carmarthen side are to be warmly complimented upon their display, one cannot help but sympathise with them in their nearness in gaining the coveted trophy. Although in arrears to the extent of thirteen points to three at half time, Carmarthen rallied admirably and adopting different modes of aggression, gradually reduced the lead until victory was within their grasp.
They had a glorious chance of snatching the honours when the last try was scored near the posts; the goal kick however, failed and their hopes were dashed to the ground. Despite their failure, however, in this respect, Carmarthen deserve every credit for their display and it was no mean achievement to give the Newport side such a hard struggle. Alf Jones can look back upon a splendid game for no fewer than twelve of his side’s eighteen points were scored by him. Llew Thomas, the former Carmarthen Harlequins inside-half worked the scrum in laudable manner whilst under the capable leadership of W. Orman, the Carmarthen pack performed well. During the first half the Docks’ forwards controlled the scrums and their backs, fed smartly by the veteran Jack Wetter brought off several good bouts of handling, which enabled them to cross over at the interval with a lead of thirteen points to three.
The second half, however, witnessed a more even struggle, for Carmarthen changed their tactics and beat Newport for possession from the scrums, but were handicapped by the weakness of their backs who missed several easy chances of scoring. However, they gathered fifteen points, seven of which came in the last 5 minutes when W. Orman got the last try near the posts in the last minute. Carmarthen had a glorious chance of annexing the cup but the goal kick failed and they lost by a single point. For Newport, J. Mountain got three tries and B. Parfitt and Harry Vaughan one each. H. Rich converting two. For Carmarthen, Llew Thomas and W. Orman scored tries with Alf Jones converting one. Jones also dropped a goal and kicked two penalty goals. At the close, Mr J. L. Baines, divisional superintendent of the locomotive department at Neath presented the cup to Jack Wetter, captain of the Newport team and medals to the Carmarthen side.