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Bridgend Athletic RFC minis 7s-11s welcomed Llanharan to Newbridge Fields. The 15’s & 16’s also enjoyed home advantage with the 13’s away at Tonmawr and the 12’s & 14’s falling foul of the weather.

Bridgend Athletic U7’s were joined by Llanharan & Valley Ravens. With Bridgend having a squad of 18 players they were able to field three teams. Great evasive rugby shown in attack and a resilient defence shown by all Bridgend players, resulting in three matches and three wins for the Green & Golds. Star players were Tyler Pascoe, Sam Francis & Benjamin Westlake. Next up for the Ath U7s is Pontypridd at Newbridge Fields.

After a run of back-to-back away matches and some cancellations due to adverse weather, it was back to familiar surroundings on Sunday as the U8’s welcomed Llanharan to Newbridge Fields.

Despite a few regulars being unavailable, the Ath’ still had a good turnout and were able to put together two strong sides, the Greens and Yellows, to take on their visitors.

Llanharan fielded two teams, each boasting quite different skill sets. One showed good understanding between players whose major strength was offloading the ball before the tag, whilst the other was built around a few strong, elusive running individuals.

The Ath’ Greens adapted well to the different styles of play of the visitors and were dominant throughout. The Ath’ Yellows on the other hand found it a little tougher to get the upper hand over their opponents.

The players had a good opportunity to stretch their legs this week, playing 8 matches in total. The Greens won all their matches, clocking up 95 tags and 30 tries. The Yellows had more of a mixed bag of results but still came away with a respectable 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss, accumulating 81 tags and 23 tries.

All the boys put in a great shift on Sunday, none more so than “Interception Machine” Ioan Jones who, having scored one in all recent matches, stepped it up this week by scoring an unprecedented hat trick of interception tries.

Bridgend Athletic U9s played Llanharan for the first time since the introduction of contact. The Ath got off to a good start winning the first quarter 15-0. The Athletic then made 11 changes for the second quarter and this disrupted the team’s momentum allowing Llanharan back into the game with the score 20-10 going into the last quarter.

 It was Llanharan who started strong scoring two tries in quick succession, the Athletic ran the changes halfway through the third and final quarter bringing on the 10 who started the game. The Ath weren’t going to let this one slip away and finished with four unanswered tries to run out 40-20 victors.

 Scorers were Ethan Davies 3, Dylan Jones 2, Rory Whyte 2 and Max Edwards. Stand out performers in defence were Rhys Gardiner, Ethan Davies, Regan Henly, Osian Kenny, Dylan Jones, Mason Brown, Grayson Whelan & William Waite.

The Under 10s hosted Llanharan at Newbridge Fields this Sunday in what proved to be a very even and closely contested game. Last season’s fixtures were one sided against the black and blues, losing both by some margin.

In muddy conditions the Ath started brightly with hard yards from Charley. Albert quickly secured the ruck to ensure Monty had quick clean ball. Outside half Olli could see the overlap and quick hands through the backs allowed Jackson to sprint 20 metres for the 1st try. Llanharan quickly responded with 2 tries, both from inside their own half. Good counter rucking produced turnover ball, and slick passing cut through the Ath defence making it Ath 1 Llanharan 2 at the break.

 The Green and Golds started the 2nd period buoyant, Jackson turning ball over at a ruck by his own try line and danced through defenders until tackled on half way line. Quick rucking again saw the ball passed through the backs with Olli crossing the whitewash to level the score. Llanharan were now under the cosh and a poor defensive clearance was gathered by Theo on the halfway line. The speedster saw the gaps in defence, outpacing 3 defenders to put the Ath in the lead. Llanharan responded just before the whistle to leave the score Ath 3 Llanharan 3 at the interval.

 The 3rd period saw another solo effort from Jackson, but Llanharan scored 2 tries as a result of unforced errors on the Ath try line to run out 5-4 victors.

 On reflection the Ath boys really have developed and upskilled in the last 12 months. Minus a few errors close to our own try line and forwards being more resilient when rucking, the result could have been different.

The under 11’s were glad to have a home fixture after a few weeks on the road. Sunday’s opponents were Llanharan with this being the first time this season the two teams have met.  In difficult muddy condition the Ath boys got off to a great start racing to an early 14 - 0 lead. Half way through the first half it was clear that the forwards had already got the upper hand and were dominating the contact area. The tries continued to come with the boys throwing the ball around regardless of the muddy condition. Half time score 26-0.

The second half was more of the same with Evan Rees bossing things from scrum half and keeping the team on the front foot. The tries continued to come as the boys pulled away with 2 more well worked tries. Llanharan had some possession and tried hard to play positive rugby and were rewarded with a try in which the conversion was missed. The remainder of the game was dominated by the Ath boys who controlled all aspects of the game to run out 63-5 winners.

 Well done to Ioan Shephard for kicking 9 out of 9 conversions. Also well done to Charlie Clarke who made his debut for the Ath today. Overall an excellent team performance, well done to all.

The U13’s travelled away to Tonmawr to play in wet conditions against a well drilled, organised side.  The Ath started the game well, carrying hard, winning turnovers up front and trying to play rugby across the pitch.  The first 10 minutes went back and forth between the sides before Tonmawr broke through to score the first try. That score gave Tonmawr some real momentum and before half time they ran in another 2 tries with one being converted, so the half time score was 17-0 to the home side.

The second half went the same way as the first for the first 10mins, with both sides playing some good rugby and the game a real back and forth affair.  However, Tonmawr got back on top with another couple of scores with 1 converted.  To the real credit of the whole squad the Ath boys never let their heads drop and kept playing to the last minute. They were rewarded with a try off the last play of the game, running a set move off a scrum for Rhys Hockings to crash over in the corner.

Final score 29-5 to Tonmawr, but real praise must go to the whole Ath squad for their never say die attitude and the score line was not a reflection of the effort and commitment shown.

 The under 15's welcomed Pontypool to Newbridge Fields for their first home game since October.  With poor playing conditions the Ath started strongly against a big physical Pontypool side having good possession but spilling the ball in contact resulting in Pontypool kicking back down the field on numerous occasions. This pressure and poor defending resulted in Pontypool scoring first against the run of play. With the Ath forwards carrying well and making hard yards up the field against the wind they released the ball for Evan Beach to chip through to gather the ball to get over the white wash and convert to put the Ath 7-5 in front.

With conditions poor for both teams there was a lot of handling errors and spilt balls, but it was Pontypool that had the upper hand and pulled in front again with a couple of soft tries through their big pack.

The second half was much the same but the Ath showed glimpses of what they could do. However, handling errors and the line-out not functioning well let them down along with some poor defending which was very uncharacteristic from them.

 The team fought back with tries from Charlie Ashpole and quick thinking by Ethan Scourfiled taking a quick line out throw to James Puaca for him to race clear for the Ath's third try. Final score Bridgend Athletic 17-22 Pontypool

The Ath 16’s welcomed Bryncethin to Newbridge Fields for a friendly fixture, However, the Ath were only able to field 13 u16 players due to injuries and an upcoming Ospreys fixture. Massive thanks and credit to the 3 Under 15’s boys, Charlie Ashpole, Jacob Perkins and Luke Griffiths who stepped up to help out having all just finished their own game. All three were outstanding and any independent supporter would never have known they were a year younger than all the other players.

The Ath absolutely dominated every facet of the first half against a Bryncethin team who had decided to include their Ospreys players.

Strong running and great hands from forwards and backs saw them enter the opposition 22 wide out but were stopped just short of the line. However, great strength and determination saw wing Tom Davies force himself over the line for a try magnificently converted from wide out by Euan Rees.

The Ath continued to dominate with Harry Cawley causing constant havoc in the Bryncethin three-quarter line. Number 8 Michael Gillette was in unstoppable mode and scored two tries from two barnstorming runs scattering opposition players all over the field. The Ath turned around at half time 19-0 up with Bryncethin having not entered the Ath half.

The second half continued much the same vein with the Ath again dominating, but squandering numerous tries scoring opportunities. One such dropped pass on the opposition 22 with the line begging, saw the Bryncethin wing race the full length of the field for a try under the posts which was converted by their outside half.

The Ath continued to dominate with every player contributing but they lacked being clinical enough to cross the whitewash. However, continuous pressure saw the ball moved out to the right and Euan Rees threw a sublime pass to Rhys Williams which saw him race away to score a try in the corner on his Ath debut.

Late in the game, Bryncethin managed to pinch another try with Ifan Hunnam managing to force his way over for a try which gave the final score line of Ath 24, Bryncethin 12, which was not a true reflection of the game.

All in all, a fantastic a game of rugby and every single Ath player should be proud of the part they played. and which shows the amount of strength in depth there is in this squad of talented rugby players. Well done boys!!!