Whitland 20 pts Amman United 15

A late fightback eventually saw Whitland kickstart their Division One West season into gear on Saturday with a dramatic victory over visiting Amman United.

But for a a long time it looked as if it was going to be a case of the same old story as, although playing some good rugby, errors by the Borderers cost them dear as Amman established a commanding lead.

The visitors were also aided in the first half by a stiffish breeze which they used to their advantage, putting some early points on the board with a penalty from their scrum-half Joel Foster.

Whitland continued to give as good as they got, though, and, much to the relief of the Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn faithful, eventually levelled matters with a penalty goal of their own by outside-half Johnny Thomas.

But their joy was shortlived, as a lapse in concentration allowed Amman to break through for a try by Stuart Herbert and with Foster adding the extras with the conversion, the visitors held a useful 10-3 lead at the half-time interval.

And that was soon stretched to 15-3 after the break when Amman bagged their second try of the game through winger Jonathan Bevan, although this time it went unconverted.

With three straight defeats in the league to open the season, as well as an early exit from the WRU Plate competition, Whitland could have been forgiven if they had let their heads drop at this stage.

But far from it. Thoughts of another defeat were quickly dispelled as they showed real character, rolling up their sleeves and hitting back to narrow the deficit with a fine try by young back row man Cyle Weatherall.

Fly-half Thomas added the extras and, now just five points adrift, it was a case of all to play for as the Borderers were now very much back in the game.

And it was not long before they had got their own noses in front as, piling on the pressure in the last quarter, they grabbed another try through flanker Jack Mason.

Again Johnny Thomas converted the touchdown and, as the clock ticked down, he also banged over a drop goal to increase his side's advantage to five points.

There was still time for Amman to go close to salvaging something from the game, though, and still time for the referee to brandish a red card and two yellows to the visitors and another yellow to the Borderers as, sadly, tempers boiled over near the end.

It could not detract from Whitland's delight at the final whistle, however, as at last they had got a deserved W in their division's league table.