Harries and Thunder sign off in style

Rob Lloyd News

Brython Thunder signed off their Celtic Challenge campaign with a 30-5 bonus-point victory over Welsh rivals Gwalia Lightning at Parc y Scarlets, giving retiring No. 8 Sioned Harries a fitting send-off to her decorated career.

Wales international and former Scarlets No. 8 Harries was playing her final match and marked it with a trademark try and a not-so-trademark drop goal as the Thunder turned on the style for a crowd of 700 in Llanelli.

Both matches the Thunder have played at the Parc have been well attended with a number of girls hubs from both sides of the Loughor showing off their skills at half-time.

Beaten by Lightning in the opening weekend of the competition, Thunder gained sweet revenge over their eastern foes, running in five tries to one.

They dominated the opening half, surging into a 22-0 lead, before Lightning came back in the second period.

With all the ball and territory, Thunder opened the scoring on 18 minutes, with centre Ellie Tromans slicing open the defence.

A rip from lively scrum-half Seren Singleton and some slick handling then put wing Amy Williams free and the speedster showed a great turn of pace to dive over in the corner.

Lock Shona Wakley added a third five minutes from the interval, before Harries got her score from a strong drive close to the line. Fly-half Molly Wilkinson added the conversion.

Enjoying more ball after the break, Lightning crossed for their opening try when former Scarlets U18s player Maisie Davies touched down midway through the second half.

But Thunder secured the win through their dominant forwards with a close-range line-out drive bringing about a fifth try of the afternoon through replacement hooker Amy Morgan.

All that was left was for Harries to deliver the crowning moment with a drop goal from 15 metres out before being engulfed by her team-mates.

Earlier in the day, the clash between Irish side Clovers and Edinburgh finished in a 12-12 draw.

Thunder – tries: E. Tromons, A. Williams, S. Wakley, S. Harries, . Con: M. Wilkinson. Dg: S. Harries.

Lightning – M. Davies.