Borderers baulked by visitors pack (From Western Telegraph)

Borderers baulked by visitors pack

Whitland 13 Glamorgan Wanderers 19

Whitland entered their new campaign with high hopes of a winning start against Glamorgan Wanderers at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn but were never able to gain mastery up front and were forced to chase a result after conceding a try in the second period.

They did manage a late score and went mightily close to snatching a result with late surges from Steve Hartland, Craig Richards and Fakata Molatika but a visiting defence well organised by halves Garran Treharne and Griff Rees held firm.

The problem for the Borderers was that their scrummage was often disrupted by the Wanderers front row of Mark OLeary, Mike Bishop and Shaun OSullivan, who wheeled the scrum on the new use it or lose it law at key times in defence before setting their own scrum and clearing pressure.

It meant that Whitland were rarely able to sustain any pressure although they made some nice breaks as full back Craig Richards, centre Domenico Setaro and wingers Eifion Lewis and Steve Hartland always looked sharp in limited space.

It was the Borderers who took the early lead as Dai Ebsworth, Steve Gerrard and Romeo Collella set the platform for fly half Daniel Griffiths to drop a neat goal - but the lead was short-lived because Emyr Christopher, originally from Milford Haven, led the counter-attack which allowed full back Justin Pocock to land his first penalty.

Pocock added another three-pointer after 16 minutes when Whitland transgressed at a ruck and he also missed with a snap drop-goal attempt and long-range penalty as both teams made errors through early-season rustiness.

Whitland made a strong strike via scrum half Rob Phillips and Molatika which put them deep into Wanderers territory but a floated pass almost allowed centre Nick Bellamy to intercept - but he knocked on to save Whitland blushes as the scoreline remained at 6-3 in the visitors favour to show how tight the match was.

Pocock and Griffiths exchanged penalties within minutes of the restart but Griffiths was wide with another 40-metre chance which would have drawn Whitland level.

They had their best period of sustained pressure as Mike Buckingham, on for Ebsworth, Romeo Collella, Steve Thomas and Rob Norton all featured in darts for the Wanderers line.

But Whitlands scrummage deficiencies allowed the Wanderers to push them back and they scored a cracking try as Richard Calcaterra made the initial break and put Pocock into space before the full back sent left-winger Owen Thomas under the posts for Pocock to add the simple extra points. Both teams made changes aplenty and Whitland threatened via full back Richards on a run out of defence before his pack lost the ball and the Wanderers had another penalty chance which Pocock missed before he refound his kicking boots to slot his fourth penalty of the game.

With seven minutes left it seemed all over bar the shouting but Whitland reduced the deficit to six points when Richards and Lewis hacked the ball up the touch-line and good control and a neat bounce allowed Lewis to race under the posts for replacement fly half Simon Rogers to convert.

It set up a frantic finale but the Borderers charges were repulsed by good defence from Dave Duly, another former Pembrokeshire player on for Christopher, and tackling well alongside Jason Allen, Bishop and Peter Herring.

It left Glamorgan Wanderers with a good start to the new campaign and there were good signs for the Whitland faithful - but they need a little more power in the front row if they were going to utilise their pacy back division to the full at this level.

The match was sponsored by the Whitland RFC ladies Committee while the match balls were sponsored by KP Thomas and Son (Templeton), Wyn Evans Car Sales (St Clears), E&H Factors and Clothing (Llandysul), County Leasing and Finance (Swansea), Carew Quarries, J Thomas and Son (Whitland), Riverlea Construction (Whitland),Martin Williams Garage and Industrial Doors (Whitland).

Whitland: Craig Richards: Eifion Lewis; Domenico Setaro; Sengili Tuihalamaka; Steve Hartland: Daniel Griffiths (Andrew Jenkins); Rob Phillips (Simon Rogers): Gareth Williams; Steve Gerrard (Richard Emms); Romeo Collella (Ricky Davies): Dai Ebsworth (Mike Buckingham); Steve Thomas: Rob Norton; Phil Morgan; Fakata Molatika.