Ammanford 17 Bridgend Athletic 20
Ammanford welcomed league leaders Bridgend Athletic and their Second team to the Rec on Saturday. The home team were hoping for a repeat of the Bonymaen game a month ago where they toppled the then league leaders. This turned out the be the classic game of two halves.
Bridgend dominated the first half putting Ammanford under a great deal of pressure from the start. An excellent try saving tackle by outside half Ryan Williams stopped the first score but after 20 min of non-stop pressure the visitors finally got over the line under the posts from a rolling maul.
Ammanford finally got the ball and a fine burst by centre Craig Woodall fed prop Dylan Phillips who thundered down the field, many felt he should have just pinned back his ears, but in looking for support the final pass went astray.
With the half coming to a close a poor decision by the referee awarded the visitors a penalty after a clear knock on by the visitors. The Athletic kicked into the corner and drove over from the ensuing lineout to end the half with a 0-17 lead.
Directly from the ko Ammanford kept the ball and after multi phases of accurate rugby moved the ball wide for Craig Woodall to score. Williams added the extra point. The second half continued with what looked as if both sides had swapped kit. Ammanford stayed on the front foot and the visitors were under relentless pressure. Dino Dallavalle and George David entered the fray and kept up the impetus. Driving forward Ammanfords powerful forward set up a ruck under the visitors posts and a sharp snipe by scrum half Alex Davies saw him go over under the posts.
With 10 minutes to go Ammanford won a penalty that allowed Williams to level the score. Could the home team push on for an unexpected victory. With time running out Ammanford found themselves with a scrum on their own 5m line. Decision time, kick for touch for the draw or run and go for the win. The boys decided to go for in but unfortunately the ball was lost and with the last kick of the game the visiting outside half popped over the drop goal to win the game 17-20. After all the effort this was tough for the players and supporters.
The BaaBaas beat Bidgend Athletic 2nds 21-12. There will be a break before Christmas with the next game being a visit to Brynamman on Sat Dec 28th.
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