Neath Schools Under-15’s are heading to the Principality Stadium on Thursday, May 2nd .
Having topped their group in the Welsh Schools Dewar Shield, the young All Blacks have won through to the Lawrence Miller Bowl final where they face near-neighbours Aberavon.
Regular readers of the Neath Rugby web-site will know that the Neath youngsters earned their place by topping their pool.
It all began back on September 28th with a 15-7 success at Blaenau Gwent which was followed by a 19-10 home win over South Powys then a 15-10 success at Aberavon who were defeated again two days later at The Gnoll in a friendly.
November saw a 23-14 home win over RGC South but possibly the best performance came in the December 27-17 victory at Cardiff ‘A’.
The 38-nil win over Merthyr saw the team fly into the New Year but they were brought firmly down to earth with a nil-21 defeat at Ceredigion.
Cardigan’s finest were then defeated by Aberavon at the semi-final stage in which Neath again triumphed over South Powys by the narrow margin of 19-17.
That ensured a local derby final and kick off at the Principality Stadium will be at 1.15pm. – a great reward for the hard-working schoolmasters and coaches in charge of the “Town” team.
With only three schools – Cefn Saeson, Dwr-y-Felin and Llangatwg – to choose from, Neath is one of the smallest Districts but stalwarts like David Williams (Dwr-y-Felin), Stuart Vaudin and David Williams (Llangatwg), reinforced by Maesteg Quins guru Mike Owen, have done outstanding work over many, many seasons.
The team will train at The Gnoll this week ahead of the final and the lads carry with them the best wishes of the NEATH club – congratulations on the achievements so far, enjoy the occasion and bring back the spoils !