PHOTO:
Centre Adam Collins on a typical midfield break for Neyland against Llangadog
Feature Match:
Division Five (West):
All Blacks miss out at the Athletic Ground
Neyland 10 Llangadog 18
Neyland fought hard against Llangadog at the Athletic Ground and should have had at least a bonus point for their efforts throughout from a similar early scoreline where Llangadog had won 19-8 at home against the All Blacks.
Perhaps they will look back on times like at the end of the first half when they trailed 5-13 and Adam Collins made a trademark break down the middle but was illegally halted near the posts. They tried to look for seven pints but the move came to nought and left supporters wondering if they should have gone for the certain three points.
Dafydd Jenkins out Llangadog ahead with a penalty and prop Dewi Howells bustled over for an unconverted try before centre Dean Matthews opened the Neyland scoring with an unconverted try as reward for his involvement alongside Delme Bateman and Patrick Bellerby at the back and hooker Alex Swales up front as they scrummaged better than in previous games.
Pacy winger Eifion Jones increased Llangadog’s lead before right winger Craig Grice responded with five points for the All Blacks – but sadly they had nothing else to show for their efforts and went down to defeat in a match they might have won
Swalec Cup:
Wizards too strong up front for battling Otters
Narberth 6 Aberavon 19
Aberavon confirmed their right to start this cup tie as favourites as they led 7-6 at half time, despite playing into the breeze, and kept a tight second half defence alongside two more tries to hold off a spirited performance by Narberth.
The Wizards covered well as the Otters sought the early points that might undermine confidence but after 12 minutes Aberavon took the lead when left winger Mike Powell scored a try which Ceiran Evans converted.
Ianto Griffiths landed a penalty for Narberth three minutes later but was off target with a much longer effort after good work by the back row of Dylan Richards, Lewis Wood and Stuart Worrall. Centre Ritchie Davies also initiated a couple of moves with his strong running and all the Otters could must was another Ianto Griffiths’ penalty.
Aberavon started the second half with a bang as full back Paul Bamsey raced over in the corner and then Narberth lost key lineout man Alex Jenkins soon afterwards.
The Otters still battled away though, but their hopes were finally killed off when replacement flanker Chris Davies scored a try from a lineout drive which Thomas converted to help send the Wizards into the quarter finals of the competition.
Division One (West):
Preseli Men ‘run out of steam’
Ammanford 36 Crymych 13
Crymych conceded an early penalty to Rhydian Thomas, who added two further three-pointers before the break, but the Preseli Men made their presence felt with good tries from centre Elgan Vittle and winger Guto Griffiths alongside a Rhys Davies’ penalty.
But Ammanford raised the tempo in the second period with tries by winger Ceri Rees, scrum half Iwan Mainwaring, second row Jake Baker, flanker Sion Williams and winger Johnny Evans to claim a bonus point, with Rhydian Thomas converting two of them.
Elgan Vittle - try for veteran Crymych centre
*Whitland v Loughor – Match postponed
Division Three (West):
Cardis lose out in tight tussle
Llanybydder 10 Cardigan 0
With an understandably heavy pitch at Llanybydder, the match against Cardigan was always going to be a hard-fought affair before the home side scored two second half tries and defended well to stop the Teifisiders getting on the score sheet, thus gaining revenge for a 25-11 defeat in Cardigan.
Cardigan No 8 and skipper Llyr Griffiths again led Cardigan by example but despite a lot of effort his pack was never able to really gain the ascendancy and it was Llanybydder who claimed the vital scores after the break as centre Gary Evans raced over after 46 minutes and then scrum half Dion Thomas rounded off a period of pressure with a try ten minutes from the end to deny the Teifisiders even a bonus point for their contribution to an absorbing clash.
*Haverfordwest v Tenby United – Match postponed
Division Four (West):
More misery for Mariners
Milford Haven 0 Trimsaran 47
Milford’s miserable run of form continued at the Observatory on Saturday as the Mariners were forced to field several players out of position and paid a heavy price as they trailed by 16 points at the half-way mark and eventually lost 47-0 as they failed to register even a single point.
For the depleted Mariners, No 8 Rhys Thompson, second row Ashley Murdock and skipper Mike Cockburn, playing as open side flanker, all tried hard to stem the tide but Trimsaran ran in seven tries alongside three conversions and two penalties from Lee Millon.
Winger Rhodri Evans and No 8 Andrew Thomas shared four of the Trimsaran tries, with the others scored by winger Alan Evans, prop Josh Daniels and full back Rhys Evans to complete another disappointing day for the Mariners – and give Trimsaran a big double since they had already won 48-5 at home..
*Fishguard & Goodwick v Penbanc – Match postponed
Division Five (West):
Scarlets storm to deserved win
Pembroke 30 Pantyffynon 8
But this was a far more convincing win as the Scarlets led 15-3 at the break and grabbed another three tries after the interval to also secure a bonus point.
Pembroke opened their account with a good try by centre Billy Woods after a powerful surge by Sam Smith, with Sean Dalling adding the conversion and a penalty before Smith bulldozed his way over for an unconverted try as the Scarlet pack played well as a unit.
Nick James notched a penalty for Pantyffynnon, who never gave up trying and also had an unconverted try from Jack Grundrett after the break, but Seamus ‘Moose’ Wiseman crashed over for a Pembroke try as reward for his efforts and others came from Smith and Dalling to set the seal on a smashing Scarlets’ success.
Seamus Wiseman - good try for Pembroke hooker
Quins play well against league leaders
New Dock Stars 30 Pembroke Dock Harlequins 10
Runaway league leaders New Dock Stars were expected to rampage to victory against Pembroke Dock Harlequins after winning 34-0 at Bierspool in the early part of the season - and although they eventually won the Stars had to pull out all the stops as they found themselves 8-10 down to the determined visitors at half time.
Barry Parsons was joined by Alex Pearce as good ball winners in the loose but they struggled against a bulky Stars’ pack in the scrums and conceded penalties galore as a result. But they still had enough fire-power as they were strengthened by the return of Jack Price, Jonathan Rogers and Damien Miller behind the scrum.
It was Price who gave the Quins a 14th minute lead as he ripped the ball off an opponent and strolled to the posts for Rogers to add the extras to go with a later penalty as the Stars could only muster a penalty by scrum half Jason Baxter alongside an unconverted try from prop Ian Jones.
The Quins were starved of possession after the oranges and the Stars added three more tries to assure themselves of a bonus point as winger Paul Williams, Ifan Patchell and Rhodri Owen touched down. Baxter converted two of them and added a second penalty to keep up New Dock’s winning streak but at least they knew they had been in a game against the gritty Quins!
*Llangwm v Penygroes – Match postponed
Division Six (West):
Saints slump to South Gower
St Davids 5 South Gower 53
The Saints had David O’Leary playing on permit from Haverfordwest and Fraser Watson returning to his home club from Whitland to score their only points as he sniped over the line for a late, late unconverted try.
South Gower had first-half tries from No 8 Alan Thompson and winger Charlie Heard, one converted by outside half Ollie Jenner, who also opened the second half scoring spree with a try which he also converted.
Skipper Paul Gill added a try before Jenner completed his hat-trick, converting the second score, with others coming from prop Matthew Evans and winger Ritchie Yates before winger Heard finished off the visitors’ scoring. The Saints never gave up trying as Rhys Tudor Price typified their never-say-die spirit but Watson’s consolation try was all the Saints could muster.