06/09/2026
🔴⚪ AMMAN UTD 27–8 TUMBLE 🔴⚪
A winning start to an exciting new season
Well, here we go again! Amman Utd got their new league campaign off to a fantastic start with a pretty impressive 27–8 victory over Tumble — and there were plenty of reasons to be excited about what this season could bring.
After only just avoiding relegation last season, Amman head into this campaign with a very different feel around the place. A number of the players who helped the club achieve the incredible feat of becoming Welsh Youth Cup winners last season are now stepping up into senior rugby, and today was the first real opportunity to see what this exciting young group could do.
And they certainly didn’t disappoint.
The visitors, Tumble, were no pushovers. They had finished third in Division 3 last season, narrowly missing out on promotion, and arrived with a reputation as a very good young team of their own and proved throughout the afternoon that they were more than capable of making Amman work for the result.
The opening half-hour was a tight affair, with both defences on top and very little separating the sides. Amman eventually broke the deadlock when Iestyn Griffiths kept his composure from the tee to put Amman 3–0 ahead.
The pressure was beginning to tell, and the Amman then produced the first try of the afternoon. Dylan Lloyd showed some excellent hands to finish off a good attacking move, with Iestyn adding the extras to make it 10–0.
Then came one of the moments of the match.
From around 45 metres out, on an angle and kicking up the hill, Iestyn Griffiths produced an absolutely brilliant drop goal to stretch the lead to 13–0. 👌
Tumble responded with a penalty to make it 13–3, but Amman went into half-time with the advantage of playing down the slope and plenty of encouragement to take into the second period.
And it was the youngsters who continued to make their mark.
After the break, Rhydian Jones who let’s be honest has been carrying the team for the last two seasons, made a superb break and looked to have created an excellent scoring opportunity, only for the Tumble defender to blatantly knock down the inside pass. The referee after some hesitation awarded the penalty try, giving Amman a 20–3 lead.
Tumble refused to lie down, though, and produced a very good try of their own in the corner to reduce the deficit to 20–8.
But Amman weren’t finished.
Hefin Davies made another excellent break before producing a lovely inside pass to Dyfan Llewellyn. Dyfan then showed great awareness to feed the ball straight back inside to Lee Evans, who finished the move superbly under the posts.
Iestyn added the conversion to make it 27–8, and that was how it finished.
The future looks bright
There was plenty to like about today’s performance, but perhaps the most encouraging aspect was the contribution from the young players.
Six of the eight forwards in the starting pack were teenagers, with the average age of the pack just 20 years old. For a team that narrowly avoided relegation last season, seeing such a young group take on an established Division 3 side with that level of confidence, fitness and skill is hugely encouraging.
The fitness levels were superb throughout, and there was some excellent rugby played, particularly in the second half. The skills on show were a real highlight and there was a fantastic vibe around the Amman team.
Hefin Davies was immense, putting in a huge performance and causing Tumble problems every time he got his hands on the ball.
Garan Williams was head and shoulders above everyone, while Iestyn Griffiths had an excellent game at 10, contributing heavily with the boot and producing that outstanding 45-metre drop goal.
There were also some important milestones for the youngsters, with Evan Whiles making his first-team debut, Ben Murray making his league debut, and Dyfan Llewellyn making his first start at tighthead.
And let’s not forget Aled Davies, who returned to his familiar number 15 position after spending much of pre-season stepping up and playing at 10.
It’s only one game, but it’s certainly a very encouraging start.
Last year’s youth cup heroes are beginning to make the step into senior rugby, and if today’s performance is anything to go by, Amman Utd could have a very exciting season ahead of them.
A great start. A great atmosphere. A great group of young players.
Bring on the rest of the season. 🔴⚪💪
Reporter Carl chat gpt James
