Bridgend Athletic 2013/14

013/14 WALEC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Oct 26 BRIDGEND ATHLETIC 21 LLANHARAN 23

Llanharan fought a desperate but successful battle to claim victory at Newbridge Fields after surrendering a 16-3 lead and trailing 21-20 into stoppage time.

Our saviour was Codey Rees who calmly slotted the late penalty that won the game and took his league tally to an impressive 107.

The opportunity came on the back of a superb effort from Nathan Huish and his pack, props Tom Piper and Simon Collins offering valuable aid as the away team put the Athletic under huge pressure, taking a head in the process as they strove to achieve the outcome they deserved.

Even then Mr Bessant somehow found an extra nine minutes of time to prolong the tension, but Llanharan were not giving up what was rightly theirs.

In fact the Nantymoel official was a source of strife to the black and blues all afternoon, the penalty count against greatly outnumbering the home team’s, while the sin binning of Lewis Young at the end of the first half was another challenge.

But head coach Matthew Lloyd summed it up as a good win against tough opposition.

“It was always going to be tough after their excellent away win at Bargoed. Changes were made for this game and it’s all credit to the players that the win was achieved.

“The squad has far more depth to it this year than in past seasons and the players will benefit later in the campaign.

“We will look at the footage of this game and try to improve our discipline because it left us on the wrong side of the referee in many points scoring situations.

“The win could perhaps have been more comfortable - but we could have lost.

“The pack performance was all the more praiseworthy as enforced changes meant a makeshift second row – but Huw Thomas and Adam Scanlon, happier in back row roles, were equal to the task and didn’t take a backward step.”

Llanharan tries – Harry Davies, Ryan Evans. Cons 2 and pens 3 – Codey Rees.

Bridgend Ath tries – Rhys Jones, Aled Thomas. Pens3 and con – Steven Lewis.

LLANHARAN

15 RICHARD LOVERING

14 HARRY DAVIES

13 RYAN EVANS

12 GABRIEL DAVIES

11 TOM FARRAR-EVANS

10 CODEY REES

9 MATHEW WILLIAMS (TOM MARLEY)

1 SIMON COLLINS

2 NATHAN HUISH (C)