Fixture

Tumble welcomed Cwm Gwendraeth rivals Trimsaran RFC to Parc y Mynydd Mawr on Saturday afternoon knowing that a win would take them top of Admiral National League Division 3 West B with two more games to play. A solid start from the Magpies saw the home side earn a 6-0 lead from two penalty goals from the trusty boot of Steven Hewitt within the first 9 minutes. Tumble maintained the advantage with some hard carrying and tackling from the likes of second row Ifan Samuel and hooker Callum Williams. The Magpies were beginning to up the pressure on their opponents and looked more effective and dynamic with the ball in hand. After a brief period of Trimsaran pressure caused by an intercepted pass from a Magpies attack Tumble got themselves in a good field position. The ball was kicked into the Trim 22 who attempted to clear only for it to be fielded by captain Steffan Price, who charged back into Trim territory. The ball was trucked up once in field before being passed to full back Hewitt. Hewitt seeing the flatline Trimsaran defence in front of him grubbered the ball through and it bounced up beautifully for the dynamic hooker Callum Williams to charge onto it and ground the ball close to the posts for a well worked try. Hewitt added the easy conversion to make the score 13-0 after 16 minutes. Tumble missed the chance to extend their lead on 22 minutes when Hewitt narrowly missed landing a penalty from 45 metres. The game boiled over seven minutes later when a large brawl saw Magpies number 8 Nathan Willard and the Trimsaran hooker both yellow carded. On 32 minutes a cleanly taking line out from second row Ryan Lewis on the Trimsaran 22 saw the Magpies drive the maul forward. Suddenly hooker Williams burst from the maul and sprinted 18 metres to score to the right of the posts. Hewitt nailed the conversion, 20-0 after half an hour and the Magpies looking good for the lead. The last five minutes of the half Trim maintained some possession and put some pressure on the Magpies defence which held firm and tackled anything that moved in a green and white shirt. A missed penalty for Trim saw them enter the break 20-0 down against a Tumble side that had looked better in all departments.

Tumble started off the second half strongly and nearly extended their lead when scrum half Iwan Morgan crossed for a try following a powerful burst from captain Price, however the final pass was adjudged to have been forward. The Magpies didn't have to wait long however when Price scored a well worked try three minutes later. Great team work saw the ball worked to Price who cut a beautiful angle and carved a line through the Trimsaran defence from the edge of their 22, grounding the ball under the posts. Hewitt added the extras to make it 27-0 to Tumble. Trim managed to gain a more possession of the ball in the next phase of the game and whilst they had plenty of ball there was no way through a watertight Magpies defence. Tumble now made a raft of substitutes including bringing on Youth team captain Celt Llewelyn-Jones for just his second senior appearance, showing up well into the bargain. The pressure again began to build on Trim and scrum half Morgan again went over for a try which was chalked off by the referee. On 66 minutes a Tumble line out in the Trimsaran 22 saw the ball thrown to the back and won by Celt Llewelyn-Jones. A pop ball from the line out saw second row Ifan Samuel peel around the back and charge at the Trim defence who somehow managed to haul him down just short of the line near the posts. The ball was switched back the other way and a clever flick pass by outside half Richard Davies saw the ball in the hands of wing Mike Edwards who beat his man and crossed from 10 metres, a lovely try and the all-important bonus point secured. The conversion attempt from wide of the left went narrowly wide from Hewitt making the score 32-0. Four minutes later Tumble scored their fifth and final try of the afternoon with a move straight off the training ground. A line out on the Trim 22 line saw a beautiful off the top ball. The ball was spread to the back where Hewitt received a lovely wrap around ball before putting replacement wing Sam Jones into space. Jones drew the covering defender before passing to fellow winger Elis Lewis who rounded the defender and scored the try at the left-hand corner flag. The conversion attempt went wide from a narrow angle but it didn't matter, 37-0 to the Magpies with 10 minutes still to go. The last 10 saw Trim rally and the Magpies defence hold firm. In the closing moments, Tumble saw second row Ifan Samuel celebrate his birthday with a yellow card and a trip to the sin bin.

A great performance from Tumble against their closest rivals for the league title. Excellent work in attack and great attitude in defence with their opponents not looking likely to score. The man of the match award went to the experienced full back Steven Hewitt. Next week the boys welcome Bynea RFC to Parc y Mynydd Mawr, come and support the boys in the closing stages of the title chase - another win is needed and we need another excellent crowd to roar the team on.

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