Rugby Reports for 14th November 2015
PHOTO:
Mariners No8 Gareth Fawcett scored three tries at Pill Parks
All games postponed because of the weather, other than:
Llangwm v Milford Haven, St Davids v Pembroke and Cardigan v Neyland; all played in Division 3A (West)
Mariners take over top spot
Llangwm 0 - Milford Haven 48
Milford moved smoothly to top spot in the section table with their comfortable bonus-point win at Pill Parks against a Llangwm side which never gave up trying but had Josh Hicks red carded.
The Mariners had previously shared the leadership with Haverfordwest but with The Blues inactive, Mark Wonnacott’s men made their presence felt to lead 36-0 at the interval and as the conditions worsened added another two tries afterwards.
To be fair to The Wasps, they never gave up trying, with prop Gavin Jones, No 8 Steve Rees and full back Lewis Murphy, back from a spell with Neyland, all doing well.
Milford No 8 Gareth Davies also caught the eye as he claimed a hat-trick of tries in the first half alongside others by open side flanker Sam Dolling, centre Dean Matthews and scrum half Dan McClelland, three of them converted by fly half Joseph Kiff on his return to play against his former club.
Matthews added his second after centre partner Dan Jenkins had also got his name on the scoresheet – and a fourth Kiff conversion saw the Mariners win with ease – but credit the Wasps for the way that they stuck to their task!
Saints battle hard but the Scarlets take the spoils
St Davids 17 - Pembroke 57
Both St Davids and Pembroke defied torrential weather to put on an entertaining clash at Fishguard Road – with the Scarlets leaving with a well-deserved bonus point win.
With a strong wind behind them it was the Saints who pressed early on, but after No 10 Jack Jones was wide with a long range penalty, the visitors took command and after a heavy spell of pressure that saw home No 8 Anthony Davies sin-binned for an offence near his own line, scrum half Lewys Gibby opened the scoring when he sniped over from 10 metres.
No 8 Sam Smith then powered over from 30 metres out, for a try which his brother Toby converted, and after Jones was wide with another difficult penalty for the Saints, Pembroke centre Sean Dalling finished off a counter attack and Smith again added the extras.
The Saints responded and a burst from skipper and second row Rhys ‘Loshin’ Price led to a try for scrum half Fraser Watson which Jones converted – but it was Pembroke who finished the half stronger as winger James Skeels, second row Will Edwards and full back Luke Hartland all went over for tries, with Smith adding another conversion, to open up a 36-7 lead.
More tries in dire conditions
The home side were dealt a further blow when Watson was yellow carded just before the break, but after half time they struck back through hooker Rhys Owen Price, who had temporarily switched to No 9, when he went over from quick tap penalty after a move that saw opposite number Gibby also sin binned.
Winger Barry John then scored one of the tries of the game for Pembroke when he side stepped past several tackles for a try that Smith again converted – before the Saints notched a third try when Jack Jones burst over from 10 metres out.
But the home side could not get the fourth try and bonus point they were pushing for – and Geraint Lewis’ men grabbed two more tries late on as Gibby hacked on and scored, with Dalling converting before replacement Craig Williamson drove over from close range and prop Johnny Palmer drop kicked the conversion.
It rounded off a decent 80 minutes of action given the conditions, with Pembroke coach Lewis saying afterwards: “We are back close to full strength now and played really well in patches today, with five 19 year olds in the squad. But credit to St Davids, they battled and made it difficult for us, especially in the second half.”
St Davids: Rhys Evans, Steve Regan, Sion Morgan, Dafydd Williams, Anton Matthews, Jack Jones, Fraser Watson, Ben Evans, Rhys O Price, Dan Murphy, Rhys ‘Loshin’ Price (capt), Chris Jenkins, Gethin Bateman, Scott Riches, Anthony Davies.
Replacements: Rhys Morgan, Moritz Neumann, Carl Evans, Neil Thomas, Jack Dudley.
Pembroke: Luke Hartland, James Skeels, Sean Dalling, Billy Wood, Barry John, Toby Smith, Lewys Gibby, Jamie Brayford, Seamus Wiseman, Johnny Palmer, William Edwards, Josh Taylor, Dom Coleman, Jordan Gwilliam (capt), Sam Smith.
Replacements: Lloyd Davies, Jim Brace, Owain Johns, Tim Sharp, Craig Williamson.
PHOTO:
Will Edwards - marked another excellent performance with a try
Cardis too strong for gritty All Blacks
Cardigan 32 - Neyland 7
Cardigan ran in five tries against Neyland which earned them a bonus point and the chance to leap-frog Haverfordwest and into second place – but The Teifisiders have played one game more than The Blues.
They led 22-0 at the break but Neyland used the wind to good effect to bounce with a good try by young winger Ben Goodridge which No 10 Patrick Bellerby converted to raise All Black hopes as Mark James and Craig Power led the visiting pack by example – but the Cardis regained control up front and in the final analysis were good value for victory.
Pacy full back Alun Jenkins raced through for two Cardigan first-half tries and open-side flanker Kieran Hurley also crossed the whitewash, with left winger Llyr Jones converting two tries and adding an early penalty.
After the home side had quelled some of the Neyland fire and made strong inroads into All Black territory, there was a try for Llyr Jones to seal the vital bonus point and outside half Llyr Tobias raced in for their fifth try – and a Cardigan spokesman was quick to praise the hard work of both teams in producing an absorbing tussle, despite the awful conditions!
PHOTO:
Alun Jenkins - two tries for Cardigan full back