There seemed no way back for Macey Lake’s side when they blew a 12-point lead and conceded 22 points without reply in the second half. Slowly but surely Godre’r Berwyn work their way back into the contest until they appeared to be safe with a 60 metre try from Go.Compare Player of the Match Lliwen Davies.
It was her fourth of the game and it stretched the lead to 39-27 in favour of the north Walians. It needed something special from NPTC to avoid defeat -and they found a way.
Mollie Prance cut the gap to seven points with a try with three minutes to go and the conversion from Serrn Croydon meant they had a final shot at a try to level the scores. In th end, Mia Teague powered over for her second try of the match just to the right of the posts in the final 30 seconds of the game.
That gave Croydon a kick to win the match, but in worsening conditions with the rain pouring down she was unbale to hit the mark and the title was shared after a magnificent match.
The 12-a-side final saw scrum half Lliwen Davies open the scoring with an opportunist scrum half strike from 10 metres out as she found a gap where there appeared to none. That was the perfect start for the north Walians, who featured a number of RGC regional players.
NPTC favoured a pretty direct approach from their forwards and it was lock Izzy Carthew’s run off the back of a line-out on the 22 that created the opening for full back Ffion Clarke to use her speed to outflank the remains of the Berwyn defence to run around close to the posts forCroydon to convert.
It was nip and tuck all the way and it was Berwyn that struck next to regain the lead after an Efa Jones break enabled Erin Fflur to pin back her ears and race over. Then came three try salvo from NPTC as they re-established their credentials.
Clarke’s second try of the game came gift wrapped after a poor cross field kick out of their 22 by Berwyn. That made it 12-10 to NPTC and Ffion Cort quickly followed after she picked up from the base of a scrum 10 metres out and just had long enough arm to stretch out to score after being stopped a metre short.
The lead continued to mount when Mia Teague took full advantage of an Izzy Carthew run to score from close range. Now the gap was 12 points, but a wonderful solo try from Lliwen Davies from the 10 metre line took her to the posts and Mari Ifan’s conversion cut the gap to five points at the break.
The second half was another case of ‘you score, I’ll score’ as the balance of power shifted one way and then the next. The impressive Baldwin put NPTC back into the ascendancy with a diving try from a metre out to open up a 10-point gap, but back came Berwyn.
Erin Fflur dived over at the posts for a try that went unconverted and then Lliwen Davies made it a hat-trick as she sped through a hole in the NPTC defence on their 22 and raced to the post. Kicking duties were passed to Wales U18 cap Saran Jones, who was able to come on with 20 minutes to play and she added the extras with the help of the upright.
Then she struck again a few minutes later with a try as she ghosted on the outside and showed off her blistering pace. Not to be outdone, Lliwen Davies raced in from half-way to notch her fourth try and the game seemed done and dusted – with Godre’r Berwyn finally set to pick up a trophy after three defeats earlier in the day.
Then came the sting in the tail from an NPTC side that simply refused to give up or be beaten.
NPTC U18: Ffion Clarke; Macey Lake (captain), Mollie Prance, Holie Tang; Seren Croydon, Ffion Cort; Chloe Grant, Izzy Baldwin, Mia Teague, Izzy Carthew, Kelsey Monteiro, Gwen Strang
Reps: Gracie Hurley, Bronwyn Donavan, Elan Cole, Libby-Mae Sheppard
Scorers: T: Clarke 2, Teague 2, Cort, Baldwin, Prance; C: Croydon 2Ysgol Godre’r Berwyn U18: Lia Smith; Erin Awel, Erin Fflur, Sioned Roberts; Cara Jones, Lliwen Davies; Martha Jones, Nel Davies, Gwenith Williams, Mari Elen, Mari Ifan, Efa Jones (captain)
Reps: Cadi Fflur, Ella Gwynllyw, Saran Jones, Rhianna Williams
Scorers: T: L Davies 4, E Fflur 2, S Jones; C: Ifan, S JonesGo.Compare Player of the Match: Lliwen Davies (Godre’r Berwyn)
