Match Report

By Ian Golden at Glamorgan Wanderers

Almost a thousand people went through the gates on finals day at Glamorgan Wanderers RU in Cardiff where the headline game saw Valley Cougars beat Torfaen Tigers 32-18 to win the 2017 WRL Premier League Grand Final.

The Cougars shook off the disappointment of losing the last two Conference South finals but it was bad news for the Tigers as for the second year in a row they reached three Welsh finals only again to lose all three.

Valley Cougars took the lead in the WPL Final on 15 minutes when Jack Watkins scored under the sticks and Mike Hurley converted.

They increased their advantage eight minutes later when Dafydd Hellard slipped through and Hurley converted again.

The five minutes before the break, Macauley Harris was sent out wide for their third try that went unconverted.

Torfaen struck back two minutes into the second half. Jarad Hinem ran past the Cougars’ backline and Fraser Stroud converted.

They got another one back five minutes later when Tom Matthews scored near to the corner and Stroud brilliantly converted.

But Cougars increased their lead on 55 minutes through Hellard’s second of the day that Hurley converted.

Then five minutes later, Cougars all but sealed the win when Dean Higgs crashed over from dummy half and Hurley converted.

Hellard soon dived in the corner for his hat-trick before Torfaen got another try back through Kurtis Haile that Stroud converted, but Cougars had done enough to hold on for the win.