Fixture

Having beaten the weather on several occasions this month, there was no doubt that washing machines were going to be put to work again this this Sunday as the U14s travelled to Old Pens to conclude a busy January. Fixtures between the two Vale teams always produce competitive fixtures and this one was no different despite the ball sometimes resembling a bar of mud both sets of players showed a perseverance to play good rugby. Llantwit made an unusually bright start to the game scoring 4 quick fire tries through Tyler Lee (2), debutant Ashley Deeming and Aaron Moce leaving the home fans fearing the worst. However, Old Pens are a resilient bunch and went about establishing themselves on the game with tidy forward runs before moving the ball to their pacier back line. With Llantwit stretched on multiple occasions it was left to full back Harry Bradley to rescue the visitors with multiple last ditch cover tackles and whose efforts restricted the home team to just two first half tries. Leading 31-12 at the half and playing with the slight slope Llantwit players were confident that they could re-establish their earlier dominance on the game going into the second half. It was Old Pens who started the half as they finished the first, pressurising the Llantwit defence who buckled first and put the home team firmly back in the game at 31-19. As playing conditions got trickier so did creating scoring opportunities and it took individual endeavour and powerful running from Tyler Lee to calm Llantwit nerves and build up their scoreboard cushion. Two more tries from Lee either side of a home score ended the scoring to give the away team a hard earned 50-26 victory. Old Pens will be left rueing those first 10 minutes with the game being a much closer affair over the remaining 50 minutes of the match. A worthy mention must go to Dylan Evans who notched 4 conversions for Llantwit in only his second match and winger Ashley Deeming playing his first game for the team. The team now move on to play Risca at home next week and planning is already starting on their Under 15 tour to Malta.