After a long, undefeated, season, the men in green, white and black finally met their match in the form of Seven Sisters, a seasoned and skilled side who deservedly took the honours courtesy of a dominant performance in the scrum, writes Peter Weavers.

With the cheers of hundreds of supporters who had travelled down to Rodney Parade in their ears, the Talgarth men performed valiantly, holding a 24-21 lead at the close of an end to end first half that saw the lead change hands five times. Maybe it was the toil of playing seven games in three weeks to close out the league title, maybe it was an extremely savvy opposition; either way, the Dulais Valley side held sway in the second period and took home the cup for the second season in succession.

Early exchanges had Gwernyfed on the front foot, taking the lead through a Joe Winfield penalty from some distance. Seven struck back with a well worked try from Kyle Davies, Antony Llewellyn adding the afters, that soon cancelled out when prop Prys Eckley finished off a move that had its roots in some incisive running from centres Dylan Skyrme and Gethin Davies.

Winfield converted and repeated the feat when adding two points to a Gethin Davies try out wide, the youngster deploying speed and strength to go in from 20 metres to open up a 10-point lead.

Water was taken on board regularly on a sweltering day, though that didn’t affect the quality of rugby on display from both sides, Seven Sisters the next to showcase their ability with tries from full-back Jay Price and then flanker Jordan MacKay regaining the lead with two Llewellyn conversions.

If the game was won anywhere it was at scrum time, with a bigger and more experienced Seven Sisters eight dominating that phase of play. Gwernyfed number eight Lloydd Powell did valiantly, collecting from a retreating scrum, but a succession of penalties in favour of the dominant pack thwarted progress. However, in all other play Gwernyfed more than held their own, Tom Millington and Tom Lloyd winning line-outs consistently and Will Eckley making ground whenever he had the ball.

It was Eckley who restored the lead before the break after some great work down the right involving wingers Jack Williams and Will Lloyd. Seven held out, but only by slowing the ball at the ruck to the displeasure of the referee. Eckley took a tap penalty from five metres out and simply ploughed over the mighty men of Seven Sisters. The unerring Winfield opened up a three-point lead as the whistle went for half-time.

Fresh legs in the form of inspirational Club Captain Sam Stephens came on after the break, but even Stephens’s efforts weren’t enough to stop Seven’s own skipper, Kyle Davies, opening up the second period scoring with a try within minutes of the restart. Llewellyn converted and added another thee points from the tee when Gwernyfed’s backs strayed offside.

Gwernyfed almost reversed the favours when a delicious Winfield chip over the advancing defence was seized by Gethin Davies who made thirty metres only to be brought down just short, the consequent drives successfully repelled by the Seven defence.

As the clock ticked past the hour a couple of errors crept into Gwernyfed’s game, inevitable after such a long and successful season, prompting the introduction of fresh legs. However, Seven Sisters were quick to take advantage of the odd error, running in three tries before Sam Stephens got the try that his endeavour and leadership deserved by way of, by then even the green, white and black faithful admitted, little more than consolation. Winfield completed a perfect suite from the tee.

The welcome for the team, coaches and physio both at the end of the game and back in Talgarth where the hoards stopped the traffic to salute the heroic green, white and blacks, was magnificent, symbolising the scale and depth of spirit so palpable at The Old Malthouse.

Those feelings will be bottled ready for Thursday when the Athletic XV take on Balckwood Griffins in the Dragons Bowl, also at Rodney Parade.