National League Division One (West):
Whitland 12 - Loughor 12
Four penalties from full back James Stephenson helped Whitland secure a home draw against Loughor in a match where they had chances to snatch the verdict but in the final analysis a share of the spoils was a fair result.
Loughor might point out that they scored the only two tries of a tough tussle but be that as it may, The Borderers battled hard and their sixth place in the section reflects the efforts they have made since the start of the campaign.
The visitors had an early chance to open the scoring from a Peter Smiriglia penalty but James Stephenson was soon on target from wide out to nudge the Borderers into an early lead before Loughor fought back with a try by Jonathan Williams to round off a period of pressure before Smiriglia added the extra points to give his side a 7-3 interval advantage.
Stephenson strikes again
Stephenson reduced the deficit with an early second half penalty but Williams added a second try for Loughor, this time unconverted, from a series of scrum-fives that were defended well by Callum Tree, Jack Mason, Raff Williams and the rest of the Whitland pack until the pressure finally paid off.
But the Borderers continued to plug away and were rewarded by two Stephenson penalties that hauled them level – and sandwiched in between was a drop-goal attempt that was just off target.
There was still a moment of drama to come as Smiriglia took a last-gasp penalty from long range which fell short before a huge punt downfield by Scott Newton had the Borderers swarming after it. There was real consternation in the Loughor camp before they finally managed to scramble the ball in to touch and Whitland certainly gained a measure of revenge for the 34-6 defeat they suffered earlier in the campaign at Loughor.
Whitland: James Stephenson: Fraser Watson; Owain John; Carwyn Jones; Will Davies: Jonathan Thomas; Andrew Jenkins: Ryan Rees; Marc Jones (Capt); Aled Richards: Raff Williams; Dai Ebsworth; Danny Evans; Jack Mason; Callum Tree. Replacements: Scott Newton; Matthew Clark; Zac France-Miller; Dafydd Williams.