Fixture

The Magpies travelled up the Tywi Valley on Saturday afternoon to play the Ravens of Llandeilo RFC in Admiral Leagues Division 3 West B. The home side started well and went close to scoring after only three minutes but the Magpies managed to hold them out and turn the ball over. A line out win from the impressive Tumble number 8 Nathan Willard after eight minutes saw returning centre Owain Williams truck the ball up the centre of the park. The ball was fed quickly to left wing Sam Jones who was held out just short of the try line. The Magpies were having the better of the territory and possession in the early stages and missed a chance to take the lead when outside half Steven Hewitt was unsuccessful with a penalty attempt from 30 metres after 13 minutes. The game evened out with a lot of play taking place near the half way line. On 35 minutes Tumble won a scrum 40 metres out from the Llandeilo try line, with the ball secured play worked out to the right before being switched back left finding young loose head prop Osian Flint in space near the touchline on the 22-metre line. With wing Sam Jones on his outside, it looked like Flint would give the pass but a dummy pass saw two defenders beaten and the young prop in for a try. Hewitt added the conversion to make it 0-7 to Tumble with 35 minutes played. In the closing minutes of the first half Llandeilo's outside half had the chance of closing the deficit but missed a penalty attempt with the ball dropping short of the crossbar. A couple of minutes later the referee blew for halftime with the score still 0-7. A notable first half performer was Nathan Willard who carried well throughout and always got his team over the gain line.

The second half started with the Magpies immediately putting pressure on their opponents. Within eight minutes of the restart Tumble had extended their lead to 0-14 following a try from lively scrum half Iwan Morgan. A line out on the edge of the Llandeilo 22 was won by Ryan Lewis with the ball being taken on for a couple of phases before finding the hands of Morgan, who from 15 metres out set off for the try line. Despite their best efforts the Ravens defence were unable to haul Morgan down and he crossed for a well taken try wide left of the posts. Hewitt stepped up and slotted over the conversion from a wide angle. Hewitt was now pinning Llandeilo in their own half with some fine tactical kicking from hand. Within three minutes the Magpies were even further ahead at 0-21 following an impressive team try scored by wing Sam Jones. The Magpies worked the ball right three phases sucking in the Ravens defence in their own 22, before scrum half Morgan switched play back to the left. Quick hands saw the overlap exploited and Jones free to dive over the try line, a fine team try. Hewitt slotted over the resultant conversion with ease from near the touchline. It now looked likely that Tumble would score the fourth try and claim the bonus point win but Llandeilo had other ideas. They enjoyed a ten-minute period of dominance where the Tumble defence was put under pressure, but showed itself up to the task. Tumble re-established themselves in the game but saw their line out start to miss function. Without the ability to win set piece ball the Magpies threw away a number of attacking opportunities deep in Llandeilo territory. In the closing 10 minutes the hard working and ever reliable wing Mike Edwards went close by charging down a clearance kick from Llandeilo. The ball ricocheted back into the in-goal area with Edwards giving chase. He was however unable to ground the ball before it went over the deadball line, despite a valiant effort.

A good win over tough opposition which sets the Magpies up nicely for Thursday's home derby against second placed Cefneithin RFC, which has been switched from Saturday. Kick-off is at 7pm, come and support the Magpies in their last game of 2021.

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