EMOTIONAL winger Joshua Congreve was on cloud nine after putting in a stunning man-of-the-match performance to help Brynmawr to WRU National Plate glory at the Principality Stadium, writes Carl Field.

Congreve helped himself to a hat-trick including a memorable individual effort after only two minutes to inspire the win over Nant Conwy.

No8 Craig Fillier also bagged a treble.

“I can’t quite describe the feeling that I’ve got right now, it’s amazing,” said Congreve.

“The emotion just hit me after I scored the first one I’m not afraid to say it.

“To even score one try at the Principality I would have been happy with but to score three is something I will never forget; it’s my biggest achievement so far.

“It’s an honour; we worked hard all year, all local boys to get to this stadium.

“We all deserve it, not just me, the whole team deserves to be man of the match.”

Brynmawr got off to the perfect start thanks to an inspired solo effort from Congreve.

The winger picked up possession in his own half and ran past eight players, shrugging off a number of challenges, to force his way over the whitewash. Geraint Langdon was on target with the conversion.

The North Walian outfit didn’t take long to respond with Jack Moriarty crashing over in the corner a few minutes later.

Brynmawr then lost Langdon and in his absence, Nant Conwy turned on the style to take the lead. Carwyn Roberts played a neat one-two with Ifan Hughes before Carwyn Ellis ran in under the posts. Arthur Lennon couldn’t miss the close-range conversion.

Minutes later, Morgan Dafydd broke free from the crowd and offloaded to Cai Jones, who tricked his way to the try line with a fantastic feint as Conwy took control of the match.

But their dominance didn’t last and Brynmawr battled their way back into the game.

First Congreve bagged his second of the afternoon before Fillier bundled the ball over the line and Daniel Butler levelled the score with the conversion.

Lennon fired Conwy back ahead with a close-range penalty but it was the Gwent side who took a lead into half time as Daniel Wall touched down in the final seconds of the half.

The Pirates went up a gear in the second half with number eight Fillier completing his hat-trick just after the hour mark before another fantastic solo effort, this time from replacement Tom Ashmead, increased their lead. Dan Butler added two conversions.

Caron Davies threatened to set up a thrilling finale with a late try, converted by Lennon, but Congreve had the last word as he completed his hat-trick in the final few minutes.

“It was a rollercoaster,” added Congreve.

“Nant Conwy to be fair to them are an excellent attacking team and they came back and, at 19-7 down, we were panicking a bit – but we held it together.

“We played in the right areas, the forwards did a good job and gave the backs a good platform to score tries.”

Brynmawr: E Phillips (C Duncan 65), R Gardner, N Preece (T Ashmead 52), G Langdon (J Amphlett 10), J Congreve; D Butler, D Croft (E Price 77), T Sparey, D Wall (D Morgan 77), R Jones (E Evans 41), D Hudd (capt), A Lane, G Knapp (Z Stuart 57), N Jones (D Croft 77), C Fillier.

Scorers: Brynmawr – Tries: J Congreve (3), C Fillier (3), D Wall, T Ashmead; Cons: G Langdon, D Butler (4).

Nant Conwy – Tries: J Moriarty, C Ellis, C Jones, C Davies; Cons: A Lennon (3); Pen: A Lennon.