Former back rower and ex-club chairman passed away just hours after watching Abertillery knock out Lampeter in the last four of the competition.
The Abertillery team had ‘Clarky’ embroidered on their shorts and wore armbands in honour of a man who had given so much for the club.
“He was at our semi-final and on the bus with us coming home. But, unfortunately, he died that evening. I think the character we have shown in the final was typical of that of the man in all his games for the club and what he did for it. This win was a tribute to him,” said Haile.
Haile’s 19 points with the boot were the difference between the sides with Vardre having out-scored them 4-3 on tries. He put over two conversions and five penalties during a stunning display of goal-kicking as they maintained their unbeaten record this season.
“It’s a lot to take in,” said Haile, minutes after the final whistle had been blown.
“For a lot of this group this has been three years in the making. We were denied promotion because of Covid when we won the league.
“This is a bit of retribution for that and we have been building to this for the last two years. It was an outstanding performance from our forwards.
“Vardre threw the ball around more than I was expecting and were dangerous but we managed to hold out.”
