Whitland Youth 6 pts. Crymych 12

Played under lights on a Friday night, this was the first time this current Whitland Youth side had played against the present league champions this season.

Crymych started the stronger and for the first 10 minutes it was only a huge defensive effort from Whitland that kept them out.

They eventually scored, though, when some good support work and interplay saw the Whitland defence run out of numbers, allowing them in at the left-hand corner for the first score of the night. With the conversion missed it was 5-0.

Whitland were gradually starting to believe in themselves and realised that even with three under 16 players in the side that they could match the league leaders.

Aron Ebsworth, Luke Creamer and Geraint Jones were all playing their part, as were regulars Rhys Codogan at scrum-half, who was lively all night, finding Steffan James at outside-half with some accurate passes, Jamie Harris and Ollie Morgan, who ran hard, getting past the first line of defence.

The Whitland forwards were also by now willing to take on the Crymych eight. The lineout in particular was functioning well, so much so that 20 minutes in, Crymych, under pressure in their own 22, infringed at two consecutive lineouts by taking out the home jumper while in the air. On the second occasion, they had their number eight Dion Gibby sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes.

This encouraged Whitland to even greater efforts, with young fullback Aron Ebsworth, playing in his first game at this level, confident enough to run the ball back or join the line whenever the opportunity presented itself.

It was from one his runs that Whitland broke through the defence and looked odds-on to score, only to be called back for a forward pass; this the first of two occasions when with the visitors' defence beaten, the referee deemed the ball had been passed forward when a try was the most likely outcome.

At half-time, with no further score, it remained 5-0 to the champions

Five minutes into the second half, Crymych were guilty of collapsing a lineout maul and Steffan James stepped up to successfully kick the penalty, putting Whitland on the scoreboard at 5-3

Just three minutes later, the visitors were penalised for not releasing on the floor near the halfway line; the normally disciplined Crymych players gave the referee back-chat and were marched back another 10 metres, bringing the kick within the range of James, only for him to hit the upright.

Crymych were clearly feeling the pressure, for only a minute later, they conceded another penalty from almost the same spot; this time James was accurate and took the home side into the lead.

With a strong bench, Crymych made substitutions, which appeared to have the desired effect when the game swung back in their favour as they won two successive and relatively straightforward kickable penalties in the Whitland 22 metre area. Both, however, were missed by centre Elgan Wilson.

The turning point came with less than 10 minutes to go and the excellent young Whitland side still leading 6-5. A strong run down the left-hand side of the field by Crymych and Scarlets Academy player Josh MacLeod was stopped by a very brave tackle from Ebsworth, but from ensuing ruck, Steffan James took a heavy hit and was left prostrate on the floor. While he was being treated, the game continued, allowing Crymych to work an extra man, who got in at the right-hand corner. This time Wison was successful with the conversion to take the score to 12-6 to the visitors.

Whitland went on to control the rest of the game, but were unable to get past a very well organised Crymych defence.

This game was a good advert for Pembrokeshire Youth rugby, aided by the excellent refereeing of Jason Summers, who deserves a mention for his control of this hard fought game whilst encouraging running rugby by keeping players onside and insisting on quick release of the ball in the tackle area.

Crymych coach Kevin Phillips explained afterwards that he was delighted that his team were made to work so hard for the win as they need a good workout before taking on Bridgend Athletic Youth at home in the quarter-finals of the Welsh Youth Cup next weekend. As the last remaining Pembrokeshire team in the competition, we wish them good luck and hope they can go all the way to the final.