Fixture

Llantwit Major RFC U13 Tigers travelled west down the M4 this week to the dramatic valley home of Cwmafan RFC.

Having endured some harsh weather conditions in recent weeks, both players and supporters were finally treated to some springtime weather.  Umbrellas and coats were happily replaced with sunglasses and caps, as sunshine and a light breeze welcomed the visitors to the well used riverside pitch.

Having not played each other this season, it was unclear how the match would work out, but the Tigers travelled in hope of a good game to get over the disappointment of last weeks home defeat.

With a number of players unavailable, the Tigers were in a fortunate position to give debuts to two new players: Jake Perry and James Wharfe, bringing them up to a full starting 15.  With team captain Dan Barlett still recovering from injury, vice captain Tom Lamerton led the team with his first act being to lose the toss.  Sadly, that was a sign of things to come.

With a larger squad to choose from and clearly a lot more experience in some key areas, Cwmafan took complete charge of the game from the first whistle. Forcing errors from the visitors the home team clinically made best use of each opportunity and scored some excellent tries.  The Tigers simply could not get their hands on the ball for long enough to get a foothold, and by the end of the first period the game should have been over as a contest.

Indeed, in years past, the Tigers would have crumbled at this point; but this team is made of sterner stuff.

The second half should be remembered by the team as a great show of character, and key to this was scoring first.  Capitalising on a rare mistake by the home team, the Tigers finally managed to get some field position and set upon the home defence with some direct running.  Last to get his hands on the ball was inside centre Tom Lamerton who burst through some ineffective tackles to sprint clear and touchdown under the posts.  The extra points were added by flanker and eventual man of the match Ethan Harding, who as well as performing kicking duties made a great contribution at the breakdown. 

Cwmafan were able to respond quickly, but the Tigers refused to lay down and fought their way back up field, eventually leading to an infringement from the home team and a penalty 15-metres from the try line.  Taking the ball from scrum half Tom Jones, second rower Jakub Jeziorski ran onto the ball and cleverly targeted space in the home defence to force his way over the line.

Cwmafan struck back, but again the Tigers picked themselves up and worked their way up field with some great handling and direct running.  This time the player making the decisive break was winger Cameron Wheadon, getting on the end of a flowing move and showing a huge amount of tenacity to force his way over the line from 10 metres for the last score of the game.

At the end of the match, the home team were comfortable scoreboard winners so congratulations go to them, but the Tigers can take a lot of pride from the resilience shown and with new players coming through the future looks promising.