Division One (West):
Whitland 46 - Loughor 7
Four tries from flying winger Sean Coles helped Whitland to a convincing win over fifth-placed Loughor under the floodlights at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn where the addition of a bonus point for their seven tries was fitting reward for what was an all-round team display by The Borderers.Coles was far too fast for the opposition, who battled to the end, but home coach Gareth Bennett will have been pleased by the way that forwards and backs combined to establish a 24-7 lead at the break and remain firmly in control afterwards as skipper Nico Setaro superbly controlled the game with his raking kicks and effortless ability to bring his quality back line into action.
Coles canes Cocklemen with real pace
Setaro gave The Borderers an early lead with a simple penalty after a Jack Mason charge, and then added the extra points after a good break by outstanding flanker Ryan Morgan saw play spread wide via Johnny Thomas and Josh Thomas saw Coles outflank his opposite number and canter around to the posts.
Morgan was again involved as he stole a lineout ball and when Tom Parry shifted play left a canny kick inside by Coles caused such consternation that the ball was missed by a couple of defenders and Coles was up in a flash for try No 2 – with Setaro again nudging over the conversion.
Loughor momentum pays off but Borderers get back to action
But then Loughor gained their only real momentum of the evening as they camped in the home 22 for a long period as they tried to turn a series of scrum-fives and penalties into a try – and after home flanker Danny Evans was eventually yellow-carded it was scrum half Tom Davies who finally reached the whitewash and added the conversion.But any hopes of a fightback from Loughor were quickly quelled as Whitland conjured up the try of the match as Nico Setaro called for a mark in his 22 and looked likely to kick to touch – but he switched play right and Liam Price made a strong run, supported by Josh Thomas, and then transferred to Coles, who again kicked ahead and outpaced two defenders to claim a terrific hat-trick before Setaro again converted.
Borderers restart well through ‘Golden-Oldie’ Dai
Whitland began the second half as they had the first, when good work by Raff Williams, Aaron Mayne, Michael Ryan and Gethin Lewis set up the loudest cheer of the evening when Meredydd Richards announced that the close-range try had been scored by veteran second row Dai Ebsworth.Then some terrific work by Scott Newton and Johnny Thomas put Coles away on the left and he cleverly cut across the field, outpacing several would-be tacklers to score wide out the right.
Great finish
Setaro missed both conversions but then created try no 6 with a lovely little dummy and dart forward before a well-timed pass put supporting full back Scott Newton over for a try which Setaro converted.
Johnny Thomas rounded off the scoring with a deserved try as reward for his classy play and in the post-match huddle Gareth Bennett was rightly saying well done to all his squad for doing what they had to do well – and The Borderers now trail section leaders Hendy by 11 points – but with three games in hand!
Whitland: Scott Newton: Liam Price; Johnny Thomas; Josh Thomas; Sean Coles: Nico Setaro (Capt); Tom Parry: Aaron Mayne; Gethin Lewis; Michael Ryan: Raff Williams; Dai Ebsworth: Ryan Morgan; Danny Evans; Jack Mason. Replacements: Adam Davies; Benjamin Kirk; Kevin Allen; Tristan Lewis; Dai Jones.Loughor: Trevor Jones: Ryan Humphries-Thomas; Kyle Tucker; Brandon Owen: Rhys Gear: Peter Smiriglia; Tom Davies: Ieuan George; Nick O’Kelly; Ritchie Bowen: Matthew Stokes; Llewellyn Richards: Jonathan Bowen (Capt); Aaron Matthews; Jonathan Phillips. Replacements: Michael White; Tom Donne; Emil Purzycki; Alex Morgan-Eaton.
Referee: Gerrard English