By David Parsons
There were mixed fortunes for the Thomas brothers at Principality Stadium as Steve saw his Vardre team lose out to Abertillery BG in the WRU Division 3 Cup final before Paul enjoyed success in the Division 2 final with Morriston.
The first day of two club cup finals in the ‘Road to Principality’ rugby jamboree saw Crumlin take the Division 5 title with a 38-24 win over Ferndale, Bryncethin defeat Nantyglo 19-15 in the Division 4 final and unbeaten Abertillery BG pip Vardre 34-27 in the Division 3 game.
Morriston took the Division 2 crown 17-12 against Aberdare thanks to a try from replacement Brad Scannell. Morriston had the better of the first half to lead 12-5, while Aberdare dominated the third quarter and drew level before losing their way after Dale Lloyd was sin-binned for foul play.
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Scannell’s charge-down score handed Morriston a five-point lead and they held their nerve to take the spoils.
Both Crumlin and Bryncethin had lost in their finals the previous season, but returned to take home a trophy this time. Ethan Chess was the Crumlin hero as he scored the opening and closing try as he side plundered five in all, while Andrew Headford scored twice for Ferndale.
Lloyd Bradley kicked 14 of his Bryncethin’s 19 points in their narrow win over Nantyglo, while in the Division 3 final Vardre outscored their rivals by four tries to three. The big difference was the goalkicking of Abertillery BG’s outside half Dan Haile.
He was successful with two conversions and five penalties for a 19-point haul as he built on the good work of his pack. Wing Callum Roche scored twice for Vardre and other tries came from full back Richard Brunton, who also kicked seven points, and Nathan Hills.
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