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With no league fixtures Bridgend Athletic of Div 1 West hosted local team Llanharan of Div 1 East Central in a friendly fixture at Newbridge Fields. On the day West was best with the Athletic running out 28-14 victors, in a game in which both sides tried to play open rugby on a very heavy and greasy surface that cut up as the game progressed.

The Athletic dominated territory and possession early on. Ath centre Tom Jenkins made a line break from just inside the Llanharan half and excellent interpassing with co centre Stuart Floyd-Ellis saw Floyd-Ellis cross for his eighth try of the season. Outside half Luke Bevan converted. The Llanharan defence was proving difficult to break down with good defence particularly from their back row of Bill Carey, captain Huw Thomas & Dafi Davies. Full back Sean Summer was also playing well and was very safe under the high ball. The Athletics’ scrum was in the ascendancy and when they were awarded a 5 metre scrum props Wayne Fooks and Mathew Muir and hooker Nathan Holman drove their counterparts back over their try line for scrum half Aled Thomas to touch down for a second Ath try converted by Bevan to open a 14-0 lead.

This spurred Llanharan into life and they started showing adventure and causing the Athletic defence some problems. In turn the Athletic back row of Cameron Thomas, Sean Williams & Ben Davies also showed they were no slouches in the defensive department. The Llanharan pressure paid off when they grubber kicked along the touchline. The Athletic seemed to have it covered but a wild attempted fly hack into touch completely failed to connect with the ball gifting Llanharan wing Evan Parry John with a corner try. Outside half Scott Jones touchline conversion reduced the half time deficit for his side to 7-14.

Llanharan took the momentum into the second half and had the upper hand in the opening 10 minutes. The Athletic then took back control. Some good ball carries by locks Jamie Doherty and Jonathon Stoker put the Athletic back on the front foot. An injury to Athletic full back saw wing Robin Davies move to full back and flanker Ben Davies occupy the wing role. Lee Murphy came on to the flank. The Ath also brought on lock Gareth Bartlett and prop Matthew Norman. Ath scrum half Aled Thomas took a trade mark tap penalty 50 metres out and weaved his way past 3 opponents to within 5 metres of the try line. He offloaded to supporting prop Matthew Norman who carried two players on his back over the whitewash for his first try of the season. Bevan converted.

Llanharan responded when they charged down an Athletic clearance kick and surged toward the line for lock Sean O’rourke to touch down under the posts. Scott Jones conversion reduced the Ath lead to 21-14. Athletic wing Liam Phillips limped off and Ben Howe came on resulting in the Athletic finishing the game wit two flankers on their wings. The Athletic were controlling the play and kicked a penalty into touch 5 metres from the line. As he had done all game No 8 Sean Williams caught the ball and lock Jonathon Stoker peeled around the back and was held a metre short of the line. The Athletic drew in the defence with a series of thrusts, before releasing the backs for outside half Luke Bevan to sidestep his way over. He converted for a match haul of 13 points and his 99^th point for the season. The 28-14 score line was more a reflection of the home sides 70% control of the game.

The Athletic will need to cut out defensive lapses when they entertain Waunarlwydd at the Morganstone Brewery Field this Saturday January 20^th looking to extend their 6-consecutive league winning streak. Waunarlwydd come looking to avenge a 34-21 home loss to the Athletic, but fresh from a home 27-24 league win over Tondu last Saturday.