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WRU National League Division 2 West

ATHLETIC 24 TUMBLE 6

On a dank and miserable winter afternoon, Athletic welcomed Gwendraeth Valley club Tumble to Athletic Park for the final home game before Christmas.

The 'Magpies' flew into the fixture placed in an unwelcomed second from the foot of the table position. If the homesters thought they were in for an easy afternoon then they were soon to be proved wrong. From the kick off the visitors dominated territory & possession for long periods but failed to convert a couple of try scoring opportunities. Athletic also had two try scoring chances in 'Elwyn's Corner' on a couple of rare foray's into the Magpies 22. On 25 minutes, the deadlock was broken as Tumble stand off Mitch Jones landed a simple penalty from in front of the sticks. Ten minutes later the hosts levelled the score with a similar effort from wing Harry Law. Tumble deservedly took the lead on half time with another successful penalty by Mitch Jones.

The second period started with a bang for the Red & Blacks as flanker Marcos Curtis crossed near the posts for the first try of the game after just three minutes. Harry Law added the extra points to give the home side the lead for the first time. The Athletic now had a purple patch of around twenty minutes in which they killed off the game. Hooker Sion Jones was the next to cross for a try after a lovely speedy angled run to the line. The conversion was added by Tom Gravell. Just five minutes later, referee Simon Rees awarded a penalty try to Athletic after a five metre scrum. Every credit to Tumble who remained competitive for the final period and probably deserved more from the game.

WRU National Youth Bowl Competition

ATHLETIC YOUTH 20 YNYSYBWL YOUTH 16

A resolute performance by the Red & Blacks Youth enabled them to overcome a strong Ynysybwl outfit. The visitors 3-16 lead looked unassailable, but Athletic skipper Jack Hannington & his team had different ideas as they scored a couple of converted tries to win a pulsating cup match 20-16. A noteable debut was made by 16 year old Lewis Evans who joined his brother Ben in the side. Older brother Dan is the 1st team captain and dad Graham was our skipper back in 2000-2001 season - keep it in the family! 

Photo: Lewis Evans (left) joined his brother Ben in today's Athletic Youth side