On a warm and sunny afternoon, Llandybie played host to Pontyates in a WRU Men’s Admiral League West 4B fixture. Both sides had their first win of the season the previous weekend so a close encounter was anticipated.

Llandybie started strongly and put their visitors under sustained pressure. With ascendancy in the scrum and a solid lineout, the home side looked impressive when using quick ball to set their backline free. It was little surprise when, after eight minutes, and after a slick passing movement and a quick ruck, Dafydd Gregory opened the scoring with a well worked try converted by hooker Dafydd Wyn Jones to lead to seven points.

The Llandybie team was starting to look impressive. Good combination play between forwards and backs put the Pontyates defence under constant pressure. It was almost inevitable that the next score would come from the home side and in the seventeenth minute Ewan Chater went over for a fine individual try following a break from his own 22 with another conversion from Dafydd Wyn Jones. Two minutes later, Chater scored his second try following a strike against the head by the dominant Llandybie scrum when he was on hand to create an overlap and touch down in the corner. A fine touchline conversion by the in-form Dafydd Wyn Jones gave Llandybie a commanding 21-point lead. Dafydd Wyn Jones added to his points tally a few minutes later when he went over himself for a try following a break from a lineout by the pack which he, again, duly converted from wide-out.

Llandybie went into the half-time break with a commanding 28pts.-0pts. lead. They had dominated the first half with some scintillating play and only some good rearguard action by Pontyates prevented an even bigger margin.

Within a couple of minutes of the restart, Ashley Hooper scored a try under the posts, again converted by Dafydd Wyn Jones, to give the Llandybie side an unassailable lead.

Logan Davies replaced Nate Richards after 55 minutes and Nathaniel Butler came on for Dafydd Gregory. The second half saw Pontyates come back into the game. With an improved scrum and attacks from their backline with excellent support play, Llandybie came under sustained pressure. The dominance of the first half by the home side dissipated and the Llandybie defence started to creak.

With Llandybie taking their foot off the gas and with some determined play and some aggressive rucking by the Pontyates pack giving good ball to their speedy backs, the visitors scored a converted try in the 56th minute. The visitors were having the better pressure in the second period and, despite having a second yellow card, scored a well-deserved second try in the 74th minute. This was a reward for a gritty second half performance when it would have been easy for them to capitulate.

The final score of the game came in the final minutes when Nathaniel Butler went over in the corner for a try following a good break and support play from the back row. Dafydd Wyn Jones had an impressive tally of 15 points with his try and five conversions. Final score – Llandybie 40pts. – 14pts. Pontiets.

Llandybie Joint Cig y Cennen Men of the Match were Ashley Hooper (sponsored by Hoopers Blinds) and Ewan Chater (sponsored by (Doel and Rowlands). We are also grateful to Match Sponsors AGFX Limited and Ball Sponsors The Golden Grove Inn for their generous support.