Builth Wells want the best rugby players in Mid Wales to come on board and test themselves in the Swalec League first division next season after ending their memorable promotion campaign in division two (west) with a 25-20 home win over Mumbles.
The victory so nearly saw the Bulls crowned as champions but Bridgend Athletic, locked together 19-19 at Kidwelly with two minutes left, pipped them for that accolade by a single point after grabbing a late win on a highly dramatic afternoon.
Builth’s injured captain Wayne Morris was at Kidwelly providing updates and, while the Bulls would have loved to go up as champs, they’re just delighted to have secured promotion.
“We’re a small town club and we’re just chuffed to bits to get back up into the first division,” said Builth coach David Jones, who now hopes leading players from the region’s other clubs will decide to further their careers by signing for them.
“We want to be seen as the Mid Wales club and we want boys with ability from Llani, Newtown, Llandrindod and Rhayader to join up with our strong nucleus of local lads.
“Anyone playing elsewhere in Mid Wales will be warmly welcomed and we want to give it a good crack in the first division where we will be playing against semi-pro sides. Hopefully some more local lads will want to come into it with us.”
Jones is delighted with how well this season has gone for Builth, stressing: “We didn’t have that many goals at the start but we had a brilliant run and it just snowballed from there.
“We had a bit of a dip after Christmas but I always knew we would come back and beat the two other teams up at the top with us which we did. We put 37 points on Bridgend and then also won at Loughor.”
Builth wrapped up their season with another win as they saw of Mumbles last weekend. Tries from Gethin Davies, Ben Duggan and Geraint Jones, plus 10 points from John Thurston, saw the Bulls over the finishing line.
“We went 18-0 up early on and played some brilliant stuff,” added Jones. “Mumbles came back at us but we managed to hold on.”
