Match Report:

The Athletic picked up their bonus point but the Magpies put a brave show before finally succumbing to a much bigger and mobile outfit. Fielding a weakened side, Tumble were under pressure from the outset and some fine tackling by Gareth Jones and centres Plimmer and Davies kept the Athletic forwards at bay.

Tumble's youthful fullback Adam Flear showed some deft touches with defensive kicks and his tackling often stopped some promising Athletic back play. With this pressure inevitably came mistakes and when Tumble conceded a five metre scrum, the home team managed to push their opponents over the line for hooker Robinson to score after eighteen minutes play.

Hefin Dumbrill secured effective line out ball and the boot of Dwayne Evans and Matthew Lemon provided a brief respite to the attacks of the Athletic. A lively backrow, in which Rhys Jones shone, had to tackle all evening and, with Aled Lewis being his usual solid self, the Athletic were unable to breach the defence. With the home team being frustrated by the tackling qualities of the visitors, Tumble were able to break out and, with Flear combining with wing Aled Gealy, play went into the Athletic's half. They transgressed and Lemon slotted a 40 metre penalty.

From the restart, the Athletic drove hard at Tumble and with Clive Morgan and James Jones putting in some last ditch defence, a try was averted. The pressure was relentless and a penalty by Dave Evans increased the Athletic's lead with four minutes left. The Magpies never gave up and were rewarded when Matthew Lemon added his second penalty just on the stroke of half time.

This gave Tumble impetus and Matthew Jones linked with fellow forward Rhys Jones. They secured good ball and with Jeremy Davies exploiting midfield, the ball was recycled for Lemon to find a good touch some five metres out. Agonisingly the referee blew for half time.

With the weather improving slightly in the second half, so too did the Athletic play. A try by No. 8 Lee Bassett, converted by Evans two minutes into the second half calmed nerves and the Athletic grew in confidence.

Tumble were giving their all and lineout forward Matthew Boswell created problems for the home team. Dumbrill was a tower but it was a case of defending throughout. Gareth Jones again saved a certain try when he tackled his opposite wing and replacements James Stephens and the well built Darren Jones kept up the tackle count. Back came the relentless pressure and Plimmer defended well in midfield as did Aled Evans at scrumhalf. After sixty three minutes the defence was again breached when Bassett got his second converted try. The Athletic were now spinning the ball out with consummate ease and with seventy minutes gone, they secured their bonus point when Bassett broke through to get his third. Evans converted.

The icing on the cake came when centre Williams scored in the final minute to complete the victory for a competent rather than spectacular performance.

Steve Lewis