A last gasp penalty from Jordan Williams denied Blues under 18s a deserved victory in last night's WRU Regional Age Grade Championship game against the Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets.
A last gasp penalty from Jordan Williams denied Blues under 18s a deserved victory in last night's WRU Regional Age Grade Championship game against the Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets.
When the two sides met in last season's final, it was the Blues who came out on top, 15-13, in an equally absorbing encounter.
This time, however, the honours went to the Scarlets as the prodigious Williams bolstered his season's tally to 36 points, from two games.
A Bradley Thyer try and a conversion and penalty from outside half Rhys Patchell put the Blues 10-9 to the good at half time. However, a second half penalty from replacement Gavin Thomas was not enough to earn the visitors victory as Williams, who kicked three first half penalties, added two more in the final quarter to secure a two-point success.
It was a close run thing, however, with Williams seemingly having wasted his opportunity to win the game when he missed a penalty in the penultimate minute. However, 60 seconds later, the outstanding pivot was gifted a second chance. This time he made no mistake to leave the Blues with only a losing bonus point to show for their troubles.
Better news for the Blues North under 16s who are still unbeaten after last night's consummate 32-14 victory over the Scarlets at Abercwmboi.
A Jevon Barnes try and three penalties from Jack Maynard wkept the visitors in touch, but the North, who made significant changes from the side that edged out the Dragons last week, ran in five tries to win with a bonus point.
Matthew Jeczalik, who scored on the opening day of the season against RGC 1404, helped himself to another brace, while Garin Smith, captain Brad Llewellyn and Jonathan Barnett were also on the mark. Jarrod Evans and Jordan Jones converted one apiece with Evans adding a penalty to round off a decent night for the hosts.
Blues team manager Nigel Way said; "I'm particularly pleased because we made eight or nione changes in a bid to ensure every member of the squad got some game time.
"I think the performance tonight will keep our players on their toes. It was a great performance and that's three in three for us now."
Meanwhile Blues South under 16s went down 45-19 to the Ospreys at the Llandarcy Academy. Joseph Bishop, Olly Hitchins and Gus Rees Macpherson helped themselves to tries while Geraint Llewellyn weighed in with two conversions for good measure. Unfortunately, it was not enough to see the Blues home as the Ospreys ran in six tries through leading scorer Dafydd Howells (2), Karl Leyshon, Daniel Brooks, Liam Popham and Jack Anderson. Outside half Josh White converted all six and kicked a penalty to finish with 15 points.
"I thought our forwards had the measure of them, but our backs found it tough," said Blues South team manager John Richards. They look a decent side behind the scrum and they really hurt at us at times."