Fixture

The phrase ‘winning ugly’ could easily have been coined for this particular match as New Panteg saved their most lacklustre performance of the season for the visit of Trinant. It was evident from the first whistle that the intensity of previous games was missing and Trinant capitalised by taking an early lead through a penalty kick. There was parity in the forwards and not much invention from the home three quarters until a moment of inspiration sparked some life into uninspiring game. The ball was swiftly passed to pacey wingman Tai Natthaphong who seemed to be well covered by the Trinant defence, however the smiling assassin had other ideas. He easily beat his opposite number before embarking on a mesmerising run to score beneath the uprights. Pivot Alex Gwatkins added the conversion before slotting a further penalty to increase the hosts lead. Natthaphong added to his already impressive try tally with another scintillating score and easy extras for Gwatkin gave New Panteg a 17 points to 3 cushion at the interval.

At the start of the second half good line speed in defence caused a turnover and Gwatkin ran in a third try untouched from the halfway line to take himself over the 100 points barrier for the season. He again added the conversion for what seemed like an unassailable lead however the rugged Troggs proved to be more resilient. The visitors dominated territory and possession for the remainder of the game and exploited New Panteg’s blindside on two occasions to score tries of their own. Fortunately for New Panteg, Trinant’s goal kicker was having an afternoon to forget, missing numerous opportunities to narrow the score line.

New Panteg did press towards the end of the match for a try bonus point but robust defence kept them at bay, so they had to settle for a hard fought victory. Second row Liam Bailey was inspirational in only his second game back from injury and was deservedly awarded the man of the match. Although pleased to continue with the relatively good results in the league, the coaches are aware that there needs to be a step up in performance in order to stay in touch with the pace setters.