Battling Lampeter suffer late Bowl heartbreak in final
LAMPETER Youth were beaten 26-24 by Llandaff in the WRU Youth Bowl final at the Principality Stadium.
The West Walians led almost from start to finish in a thrilling end-to-end battle but were left stunned at the final whistle.
They were the more composed team from the outset and looked good value for their 10-0 lead after tries from wing Jayden Hinds and centre Sion O’keefe.
Hinds’s opening effort came after Lampeter worked the ball from left to right. With a penalty coming, livewire scrum-half Guto Ebbsworth put in a kick towards Hinds’s wing and reaped the reward.
O’keefe’s try came after a Llandaff move broke down on the Lampeter 10-metre line. Bruce Gaskell picked up the pieces and O’keefe was eventually able to race 30 metres along the touchline to score.
The Cardiff side’s first points came when wing George Cottrell raced over in the corner. Scott Delnovo added the extras.
Ebbsworth scored a solo sidestepping try that was converted by half-back partner Jac Crompton, before back-row man Josh Froom crashed over for Llandaff. Delnovo converted.
Full-back Meirion Lloyd ran in at the posts for a try that Crompton again improved to give Lampeter a 10-point lead.
But Llandaff got stronger as the game wore on.
Scrum-half Ben Morgan poached a try in the corner to cut the gap to five points and, with time running out, Llandaff drove a maul over the line and the try was awarded to Owain Griffiths. The scores were level for the first time and Delvono’s kick gave the Cardiffians the trophy.
Lampeter will now turn their attention to capturing the WRU League and the Carmarthenshire Cup.