Wing Wizard Wyatt Works Warriors Win

Celtic Warriors 29 - 22 Leinster Sardis Road   Att: 4,500 Referee: Iain Ramage Saturday 13th September 2003, 14:30

A brilliant individual try from winger Gareth Wyatt in injury time gave the Celtic Warriors a thrilling victory over former Celtic League champions Leinster at Sardis Road.

The Lions had led virtually throughout at Sardis Road but had no answer to Wyatt's brilliant effort from his side of halfway. Leinster goal-kicker Brian O'Meara kept his side in front for the majority of the game, and he was a hot favourite for the man-of-the-match award before Wyatt's 82nd-minute piece of magic. O'Meara's four first-half penalty goals cancelled out three from Warriors veteran Neil Jenkins as Scottish referee Iain Ramage kept a tight rein on the match, much to the displeasure of the fans. The Warriors levelled the scores at 12-12 with a dropped goal from that man Wyatt, before replacement hooker Mefin Davies - along with Warriors fullback Kevin Morgan the only member of the Wales World Cup squad allowed to play on Saturday - powered over from close range. Jenkins levelled the scores at 19-all with the conversion, and added a penalty goal to give the Warriors the lead for the first time. O'Meara slotted an excellent long-range penalty goal to level the scores with 10 minutes left on the clock. Morgan - on the comeback trail from injury - broke though for what the crowd thought was the winning try, but he ran out of support and O'Meara's covering tackle saved the day for the visitors. But moments later, Wyatt scored an individual try that had long-time Welsh fans scratching their heads trying to think of a better one. The Lions had led virtually throughout at Sardis Road but had no answer to Wyatt's brilliant effort from his side of halfway. Leinster goal-kicker Brian O'Meara kept his side in front for the majority of the game, and he was a hot favourite for the man-of-the-match award before Wyatt's 82nd-minute piece of magic. O'Meara's four first-half penalty goals cancelled out three from Warriors veteran Neil Jenkins as Scottish referee Iain Ramage kept a tight rein on the match, much to the displeasure of the fans. The Warriors levelled the scores at 12-12 with a dropped goal from that man Wyatt, before replacement hooker Mefin Davies - along with Warriors fullback Kevin Morgan the only member of the Wales World Cup squad allowed to play on Saturday - powered over from close range. Jenkins levelled the scores at 19-all with the conversion, and added a penalty goal to give the Warriors the lead for the first time. O'Meara slotted an excellent long-range penalty goal to level the scores with 10 minutes left on the clock. Morgan - on the comeback trail from injury - broke though for what the crowd thought was the winning try, but he ran out of support and O'Meara's covering tackle saved the day for the visitors. But moments later, Wyatt scored an individual try that had long-time Welsh fans scratching their heads trying to think of a better one.

Celtic Warriors V Leinster   P D C T Pos Player Player Pos T C D P   FB Kevin Morgan 15 James Norton FB 1 1 W Gareth Wyatt 14 John McWeeney W C David Bishop 13 Kieran Lewis C C Jon Bryant 12 David Quinlan C W Aisea Havili Kaufusi 11 Brendan Burke W 1 4 2 FH Neil Jenkins 10 Christian Warner FH SH Paul John 9 Brian O'Meara SH 1 5 P Phil Booth 1 John Lyne P H Andrew Joy 2 David Blaney H P Chris Horsman 3 Niall Treston P L Deiniol Jones 4 Leo Cullen L L Nathan Budgett 5 Ben Gissing L FL Nick Kelly 6 Niall Breslin FL FL Richard Parks 7 Shane Jennings FL 8 Richard Bryan 8 Des Dillon 8 Replacements 1 rh Mefin Davies 16 Peter Coyle r - Martin Jones 17 Brian Blaney - r Ryan Jones 18 Aidan Kearney - r Cory Harris 19 Niall Ronan r - Jim Donovan 20 Brian O'Riordan - r Shaun James 21 James Downey - - Gareth Cull 22 Gary Brown r Penalty Tries 0 0

All Pictures: ©  http://www.inpho.ie/, Huw Evans Agency,  Graham Stuart