Tondu 30 Whitland 24

After two successive home victories, Whitland were unable to complete a win hat-trick as they went down to defeat against high-flying Tondu - although the Borderers pushed their opponents all the way and again showed they have adapted to life in this section before Tondu could maintain top spot with their ninth win in ten outings.

Tondu started like trains and took the lead as early as the third minute, when experienced fly half Dean Thomas slotted a penalty - followed by the conversion of a try two minutes later when former Bridgend scrum half Brendan Roach took a quick tap penalty and sliced through to the posts.

Trailing by ten points after only five minutes, Whitland deserve credit for refusing to cave in and they had penalties by Daniel Griffiths in the 20th and 23rd minutes as Rob Norton again looked in good fettle in the back row alongside Mark Hughes and skipper Phil Stretch Morgan.

But Tondu added a second try when an outrageous dummy by Richard Dyke allowed the fly half to skip through but a third Griffiths penalty hauled Whitland back to 15-9 adrift at the break and still in with a realistic chance of spoiling Tondus 100% record.

It looked even better for the Borderers after just six minuets of the second period when excellent handling among forwards and backs saw Phil Morgan perfectly placed to score a try which Griffiths converted to nudge his side a point ahead.

But Tondu regained the initiative from the kick off as a poor kick by Andrew Jenkins allowed the home side to counter-attack and Brendan Roach again popped up to score a try, Thomas hitting the post with his conversion attempt.

Thomas also missed two penalty attempts but slotted three points with a good kick and converted a try by lively flanker St John Towell to put Tondu 30-16 ahead.

It says much for the Borderers that they finished the stronger and after several changes of personnel saw Steve Gerrard, Rob Phillips, Ricky Davies and Dai Ebsworth join the fray they grabbed a try from winger Matiake Mafi. Griffiths hit the woodwork with the conversion and then notched a penalty to haul Whitland within a single score.

They also went close but Craig Richards stepped on the ball after Gavin Morris had cleverly stabbed the ball ahead - and it was Tondu who were relieved to hear the final whistle. Whitland were understandably disappointed with defeat after giving so much but they have a chance to return to winning ways tonight (Wednesday) when they entertain Merthyr at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn, starting at 7.30pm.

Whitland: Gavin Morris: Craig Richards; Domenico Setaro; Sengili Tuihalamaka; Matiake Mafi: Daniel Griffiths; Andrew Jenkins: Gareth Williams; Richard Emms; Romeo Colella: Steve Thomas; Fakataha Molitika: Rob Norton; Mark Hughes; Phil Morgan. Replacements: Ricky Davies; Andy Webster; Rob Phillips; Dai Ebsworth; Steve Gerrard; Simon Rogers; Lee Banfield.