WHITLAND 43 pts

MOUNTAIN ASH 6

At last it's happened. After so many near misses in recent seasons, Whitland can at last celebrate after clinching promotion to division one with a convincing victory over the now relegated Mountain Ash.

The Borderers have gone so close to climbing out of division two in recent seasons, before having the door to the upper echelons shut firmly in their faces in the final stages.

And they must have feared it would happen again as they faced a severe backlog of fixtures in the closing weeks of another remarkable season.

But they steeled themselves to the exhausting challenge of playing two matches a week for the past month or so, and a successful run-in has seen them march into second place.

In the process they put paid to the hopes of long time leaders and local rivals Narberth, but Whitland's own hopes of adding the title to their promotion success were finally dashed on Monday when they lost at home to Carmarthen Athletic in another nail-biter.

Whitland needed to win to keep their championship aspirations alive, but a last minute try by Athletic's Kevin Jones saw the Carmarthen side snatch a dramatic 17-16 victory.

The Borderers had been hoping to face Bedwas in a thrilling championship showdown at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn this weekend, but the defeat effectively handed the silverware to their rivals on a plate.

Still Whitland will no doubt be happy with promotion, and the celebrations lasted long after the final whistle had blown against Ash.

For the record, the Borderers scored seven tries against Mountain Ash, through second row Fakata Molatika (2), centre Brad Baker, scrum-half and captain Rob Phillips, number eight Derek Thomas, winger Craig Richards and outside-half Daniel Griffiths, who also banged over four conversions.

Whitland fielded: Wayne Lewis, Eifion Lewis, Domenic Setaro, Brad Baker, Craig Richards, Daniel Griffiths, Rob Phillips, Gareth Williams, Steve Gerrard, Andy Webster, Dai Ebsworth, Fakata Molatika, Randall Williams, Johnnie Kiloi, Derek Thomas.

Replacements - Dai Jones, Ricky Davies, Steve Parsons, Mike Phillips.