The player-coach, back at his first club after so many successful years at Narberth, Gale showed his pedigree by landing five penalties and converted a try by lock Steff Phillips.
He only missed once on what was his first visit to the home of Welsh rugby, but he made up for that by nervelessly slotting a wide-angled penalty three minutes from time to break the deadlock and finally end Glynneath’s stubborn resistance.
“I was just glad in the end the boys earned me a shot to win the game in the end. We thought it would go right to the end and it did,” said Gale, who co-coaches the team with his father, Sean.
“We talked about putting pressure on the once we got into the lead by giving them the lead and waiting for a mistake. Luckily in the end they did make a mistake.
“I didn’t know what it was going to be like kicking here – we warmed-up on the Cardiff Arms Park pitch – but luckily there was no wind, which is a luxury.
“My role is to add value in whatever I’m doing and I’m just a part of a pretty special group at the club. I’ve returned to my first club, where I first started playing at the age of seven, so to come back and have something to show for it is really special.”
The Division 1 West side had only lost once in their 16 matches this season and currently sit second in the table following victory for Gorseinon on Saturday afternoon. In a tight affair, to was Gale’s golden boot that proved the difference despite a late try from Glynneath’s Josh Morris and a pressure conversion by Dylan Francis that made it level pegging at 19-19.
Glynneath had club president Max Boyce, along with 16 busloads of noisy fans, in attendance and only just fell short after a monumental effort that saw Francis respond to Gale’s goalkicking exploits with 14 points of his own.
The Wanderers opened the scoring through second row Phillips who gathered a bouncing offload from Gale as they exposed an overlap out wide through Jac Hart. Gale added the conversion.
Gale edged the Wanderers back into a seven-point lead with two penalties in five minutes and the Division 1 West side dominated territory for much of the first half, but Glynneath were in no mood to back down from the fight and a third Francis penalty meant the Division 1 West Central club were only trailing 13-9 at the break.
“It is hard to put into words how we all feel after that defeat. They were a very well organised team, but I’m just so proud of the shift we put in,” said Glynneath skipper, Aled Evans.
“We got here the hard way, playing away in every round of the cup, and we showed the spirit and heart that got us to the final. We deserved this day and now we have five league games left to play to try to earn some silverware and hopefully see the Wanderers again next season in the Championship.”
Following a miss of the afternoon by Gale, Francis added his fourth penalty to once again cut the gap to a single point. Another Gale penalty added to the tension before a senseless late shoulder charge by Wanderers loosehead prop Keelan Jewell on Francis enabled Glynneath to gain vital territory.
Three rolling maul infringements in a row led to Wanderers skipper and hooker Rhodri Owens being shown a yellow card. Despite their man advantage, Glynneath failed to take the chance on offer as the resulting maul was turned over.
Gale put some breathing space between the two sides with his fourth penalty in the 67th minute after a high tackle. Replacement Josh Morris then crossed from short range as Glynneath got back into the game just before Owens returned.
Francis nailed the tricky conversion to level the scores and set up a thrilling finish. With extra-time looming, a game of kick tennis ended with Owens redeeming himself by claiming a turnover penalty on the edge of the Glynneath 22.
Up stepped Gale and over went his fifth penalty of the game to win the tightest of contests.
DIVISION 1 CUP FINAL – LLANELLI WANDERERS 22 – 19 GLYNNEATH
Llanelli Wanderers: Lewis Jones; Owain Davies, Nick Gale, Rhydian Morgan, Jac Hart; Jonathan George, Josh Weeds; Keelan Jewell, Rhodri Owens (captain), Gareth Havard, Steffan Phillips, Ryan Evans, Ben Chiffi, Caine Rees-Jones, Lloyd Pike
Reps: Dyfan Watkins, Nicky Frampton, Ben Harries, Elis Evans, Ben Phillips, Elgan Morgan, Kyle Richards, Jacob Williams
Scorers: T: Steffan Phillips C: Nick Gale P: Nick Gale 5Glynneath: Jordan Griffiths, Harri Morgan, Jed O’Reilly, Sam Harris, Aled Evans (captain); Dylan Francis, Scott Hawkins; Owain Watts, Craig Tennant, Gareth Hall, Jonny Griffiths, Arwel Davies, Shaun Tennant, James Parry, Luke Weaver
Reps: Adam Nation, Rhodri Evans, James Vardon, Conor McMenamin, Josh Morris, Owen Kennerley, Jayden Burton, Joe Hughes
Scorers: T: Josh Morris C: Dylan Francis P: Dylan Francis 5Go.Compare Player of the Match: Josh Weeds (Llanelli Wanderers)
