The Welsh Junior Conference Finals took place at Blackwood RFC on Sunday.
With the top teams in Wales on show there was a great deal of expectation and the teams did not disappoint the crowds.
Pontyclun Panthers, 34, Tries Jordan Chan, Adam Baker, Levi Knowles, Keiron Trotman, Lewis Marshall, Bradley Mais, Lewis Kirk. Conversions Levi Knowles 3.
Swansea Dragons, 8, Tries Joe Thomas, James Jones.
The Under 13’s final was between the unbeaten Panthers, playing out of Pontyclun RFC, and Swansea Dragons, who had lost only once, that defeat coming at the hands of the Panthers.
The Panthers’ defence was solid, only allowing the Dragons to cross their line twice and their strong powerful running took its’ toll on the Dragons and the Panthers ran in 7 tries, being crowned Welsh Champions in their inaugural season.
Neath Port Talbot Steelers, 35, Tries Joe Franchi 2, Owain Rosser, Josh Stebbins, Stacy Pearson, Owen Thomas. Conversions Ryan Pugh 5 Drop Goal Ryan Pugh.
Swansea Dragons, 14, Tries Jack Harris, Jamie Davies, Charlie Rogers. Conversions Matthew Kenny 1.
NPT Steelers and Swansea Dragons contested the Under 15’s final, and for the second time in the afternoon the Dragons’ opposition proved too strong for them with the Steelers scoring six tries, five conversions and a drop goal to the Dragons’ three tries and conversion.
Penallta Storm, 56, Jacob Wright 3, Christopher Thomas 2, Lewis Rowden, Matthew Crane, Rhys Stephens, Liam Mattthews, Stefan Jeuxson, Joe James. Conversions Josh Davies 6.
Neath Port Talbot Steelers, 30, Tries Stephan Andrews 3, Luke Joseph, Jay Baker, Sam Brown. Conversions Aaron Lewis 3.
The under 17 final saw another team in their first season, Penallta Storm, take on NPT Steelers. This was the highlight of the afternoon with the lead changing six times before Storm pulled away eventually winning 56 – 30.
WRL Development Officer, Dan Clements said: “This was an outstanding afternoon of rugby league. The standard was very good and the teams were a credit to their coaches who had obviously put in a great deal of effort to produce such a high standard. The future for junior rugby league in Wales is looking very good as we now look to the Carnegie Schools Championships programme with what promises, from the enquiries we have received, to be a record number of schools entering this year. I would like to congratulate not only the winners, but all the teams who have taken part in this year’s Conference.”