Whitland 19-16 Tondu (From Western Telegraph)

Whitland 19-16 Tondu

4:00pm Wednesday 15th February 2012 in Sport

Division one west - A LATE penalty by talented young full back Scott Newton earned Whitland a narrow win over visiting Tondu and kept the Borderers in a deserved third place in the section table.

The heavy pitch meant that the match was in some doubt prior to the start, but Tondu agreed to play and it certainly levelled matters out because the Borderers had already won 27-21 in Tondu but were rarely able to play the quality handling game of which they are capable in these conditions.

Tondu took the lead with a penalty from outside half Paul Smithson before the Borderers opened their account with a well-worked try for skipper Andrew Jenkins as the scrum half sliced over on the blind side after his pack had done the spade work.

Smithson landed two more penalties before the interval but the Borderers were 13-9 in front as a great line-out drive saw hooker Marc Jones emerge to claim the touch-down and a penalty from Scott Newton came after more good work by the likes of Rhodri West, Dylan Richards and Rhys Jones up front.

Another Newton penalty soon after the restart extended the Whitland lead but Tondu levelled matters with a try from Darren Thomas which Smithson converted.

But the Borderers appropriately had the final word when Tondu were penalised under pressure and Newton kept his nerve to kick the vital three points that put them just two points behind second-placed Tata Steel and still very much in contention as their undoubted reward.

Whitland: Scott Newton, Dion Thomas, Lee Glanville, Gary Evans, Fraser Watson, Carwyn Jones, Andrew Jenkins (Capt), Rhodri West, Marc Jones, Alun Davies,, Rhys Jones, Dai Ebsworth, Dylan Richards, Andrew Hawkins, Callum Tree. Replacements: Huw Rees, Aled Harries, Carwyn Jones, Gareth Lloyd, Tomos Jones.