Pilcs - 2

Abergavenny Thursdays - 5

MATTHEW Heritage showed the sort of quality that belied his age on Saturday, as the 17-year-old steered the Thursdays to a fine win over Pilcs with a handsome hat-trick.

Following the previous weekend's exit from the Amateur Cup at the hands of fourth-placed Gwent County Division Two team Panteg, the Thursdays rediscovered their scoring boots against Panteg as Steve Collett and Leon Gilchrist aided and abetted Heritage to help secure another crucial three points for the Pen-y-Pound outfit.

In the wake of Saturday's result, the Thursdays now sit sixth-place in Gwent County Division Three, just eight points behind top-of-the-table Llanwern RTB, whom the Thursdays beat 4-2 away in the tail-end of October.

And with the top teams all constantly nicking points of one another, the Thursdays ongoing pursuit for promotion remains very much a distinct possibility.

Club secretary Chris Wilkins told the Chronicle, "The fact that we were the first team to beat Llanwern at home in about two years show the quality we now have in the side.

"We just need to focus that a bit more, like we did on Saturday, and produce a run of winning results that will work in our favour.

"For some reason we seem to perform better away from home against teams that are above us in the league.

"Saying that I've don't think we've disgraced ourselves in any of the league games that we've lost this season. Probably the fixture against AC Pontmister was the only match where we deserved to lose.

"As far as the other defeats are concerned, it's simply been a case of us failing to capitalise on and put away the abundance of chances that we always seem to create but fail to finish. "Hopefully that problem is behind us now, and although we're not going to get carried away on the back of one class performance, it's certainly a morale booster."

Wilkins added, "What's great about the Thursdays this season, is the average age of the side is very young, and with youthful and talented players like Matthew Heritage, Nick Dash, and Joe Pengelly on board, the mood at present is very positive in the camp.

"There a lot of games left to play this season and anything is possible, but for now we're just taking one match at a time."

This Saturday the Thursdays face Race at Pen-y-Pound.