Division Two West:

Whitland 43-10 Mumbles 

Whitland deservedly claimed the Division Two West title with an emphatic 43-10 victory over Mumbles at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn.

The last time these two teams met earlier in the season, Mumbles won 19-12 in a game with uncontested scrums, but this time round The Borderers showed their title credentials with a tremendous team effort and grabbed six excellent tries in the process.

There was a brace each for Nico Setaro and Liam Price and one apiece for Sean Coles and Josh Thomas, with star man Setaro kicking the rest of the points with his trusty right boot.

The Borderers led 22-10 at half time, and they got off to a flier as outside half Setaro kicked kicked a penalty, then missed with another effort, but the first try of the afternoon soon came with good hands by centres Josh Thomas and Scott Lloyd created space for Coles,  as the left winger sped over in the corner for an unconverted score.

But the visitors were not prepared to lie down as they created space wide for left winger Joe Rimmell who cantered over in the corner and then made it round to the posts for full back Rhys Cotterill to add the easy extras.

Midway through the first half and Whitland’s blindside flanker Ryan Morgan took a knock and was replaced by Benji Kirk, but openside Ryan Michael and No 8 Jack Mason were carrying over the gain line and constantly punching holes in the visitors’ defence.

The Borderers added a cracking third try, running from deep Coles made good ground down the left before slipping a scoring pass to powerful centre Josh Thomas to crash over, Setaro added the conversion.

Then on the stroke of half time The Borderers were penalised at the breakdown and full back Cotterill kicked an easy three points.

After the break, openside Micheal made a tremendous break, he did well to find Liam Price out wide, and the winger finished clinically for Setaro to convert.

Whitland scored a well-orchestrated fifth try, No 8 Mason broke blind from a scrum on half way, fed Adam Davies who made good ground, the nippy scrum half cleverly slipped a scoring pass to Price who sped over the whitewash for his second try of the afternoon. Setaro kicked the conversion to open up a healthy 36-10 lead.

With just eight minutes remaining Ryan Michael was replaced and was given a standing ovation by the Borderers’ supporters, he had announced he was playing his last game for the club, and he certainly went out on a high with the title in sight.

But the final say was left to star man Setaro who contributed with 23 points haul in total, the fly half jinked his way through the tired Mumbles defence inside their 22, and he also added the extras to seal an emphatic bonus point victory for the newly crowned Division Two West champions.

Only last season, the Borderers suffered relegation and heartache, twelve months later they were celebrating a thoroughly deserved title winning campaign, and proud coaches Gareth Bennett and Dan Mason will surely be relishing cutting their teeth with an immediate return to Division One West next season.

After the final whistle Whitland skipper Marc Jones received the title winning bowl from WRU District H representative Gordon Eynon, much to the delight of his team-mates and everyone connected with The Borderers.

Whitland: Jonathan Thomas, Liam Price, Scott Lloyd, Josh Thomas, Sean Coles, Nico Setaro, Adam Davies, Aaron Mayne, Marc Jones (Captain), Tomos Evans, Raff Williams, Dai Ebsworth, Ryan Morgan, Ryan Michael, Jack Mason. Replacements: Gethin Lewis, James Lewis, Danny Evans, Benji Kirk, Aaron Ebsworth, Tom Parry.