Wednesday night under the lights at Taffs Well — cold, wet, and a slight delay to kick-off while the floodlight situation was sorted (Taffs Well hadn't paid the electric bill, apparently 💡). But everyone will agree it was worth the cold hands: they were treated to a brilliant game of rugby in front of a decent Wednesday night crowd.

Whitchurch had lost the reverse fixture at the start of the season and the boys had a point to prove. Ben opened the scoring straight away but Taffs Well hit back with a converted try to lead. From there the first half was end-to-end — Luca and Elliott S both crossed with Jay adding the conversions, then Taffs Well replied, then Ben grabbed his second and third tries to complete a first-half hat-trick. The Whitchurch backs were on fire, spreading the ball wide and running forward with real intent. Taffs Well's forwards were excellent at the scrum and their pod work constantly broke the gain line — but they couldn't keep up with the Warriors' back line. Half time: 31–14 to Whitchurch.

The second half was a completely different story. Whitchurch's backs went loose just as Taffs Well found another gear — three tries in quick succession brought it back to 31–36 and suddenly the game was very much alive. Then came the moment of the match. A Taffs Well break down the wing with real pace had the Whitchurch supporters holding their breath — until Tolis came flying across the field and produced a superb game-saving tackle. The touchline erupted.

That tackle flipped the momentum straight back. Gethin crashed over for his first ever try in a U14s shirt, Luca added another, and Whitchurch ran out 46–31 winners in a fantastic game played in fantastic spirit.

Two years ago both Whitchurch and Taffs Well could barely field a team, could hardly score a try, and defence was non-existent. Tonight was a brilliant reminder of just how far both squads have come. 🖤🤍