Feature Match One - Division Three (West):

 

Bonus-point Blues pushed all the way by The All Blacks in a great local derby

 

Neyland 26 - Haverfordwest 38

 
Local-derby rugby returned with a bang at The Athletic Ground as home team Neyland pushed Haverfordwest all the way, writes Bill Carne.
 
It was a fascinating contest to watch before the home side had to admit defeat as The Blues lasted the pace that little better to take the verdict – but a large crowd of partisan and vociferous support in both camps showed that most clubs would welcome the return of a Pembrokeshire League, other than perhaps the top three clubs, who should have the right to join the national levels to compete there if able.
 
The Blues made a good start with a forward-based try rounded off by powerful young hooker Iori Curtis scored after four minutes, following a driving maul in the top left corner.
 
But it didn’t take Neyland long to fight back as Rio Phillips landed a penalty and  then added another penalty to make it 6-5 to serve notice that his place-kicking was on form, and following some pressure from the home side they scored an excellent try in the bottom right corner through winger Josh Watts before Rio Phillips added a tough conversation to put them in control at 13-5.
 
Haverfordwest controlled the next 10 minutes as they put pressure on Neyland’s defence and Adam Phillips added two penalties from 25m and 30m to get them back within a couple of points but with ten minutes to go in an entertaining first half, Rio Phillips added another penalty to put them 16-11 up.
 
As fortunes ebbed and flowed, Adam Phillips responded with a penalty to make it 16-14 before Rio added another long range penalty to push them 19-14 ahead at half time.
 
Both teams knew that knew that the first score after the break could be the crucial one and Ifan Williams, playing on the wing, finally found space and a one on one chance,  to step inside his marker and score in the bottom right corner before  Adam Phillips added the tough conversation to put Haverfordwest back ahead 21-19.
 
Shortly after, the ball bounced its way into Ifan Williams’ hands again, this time, before using his pace to score from 30m in the opposite corner. Adam Phillips added another tough conversation to put The Blues in control of the game at 28-19.
 
Credit to Neyland who came at The Blues and put them under real pressure for the next 10 minutes and deservedly scored under the posts after a series of close-range raids saw prop Luke Griffiths-Dawes crash over from close range. Rio Phillips adding the easy conversation to make it 28-26 and it was a case of ‘game on’ again.
 
Jack Clancy then received a yellow card for a high tackle to put Haverfordwest under further pressure and with time running out on the yellow card but Ifan Williams again found space on the right wing and superbly off-loaded to fellow winger Logun Young, who finished off really well to score with eight minutes to go, and  Adam Phillips added the extras.
 
The Blues’ full back then added a late penalty to push the score to 38-26 and that's how it finished in a really enjoyable game of rugby where first-phase errors and penalties made things difficult for both teams but over with 60 points scored in a hard, competitive game that was well controlled by refereed by referee Julian Thomas (Llanelli).
 
Haverfordwest’s four tries were all scored by 18 year olds was great to see and one could only feel sorry for Neyland because they didn’t even have a bonus point to show for a match in which their forwards never gave an inch, with Ben Williams, George, Owain and Iestyn Evans to the fore,  and behind the scrum, half backs Owen Hamer and Rio Phillips caught the eye alongside outstanding skipper George Williams Josh Watts and Matthew Coles to the fore.




 
Neyland: Oli Rothero: Liam Rees; Matthew Coles; George Williams (Capt); Josh Watts: Rio Phillips; Owen Hamer: Luke Griffiths-Dawes; Andrew Swales; Seb Mackintosh: George Evans; Iestyn Evans: J Hamilton; Owain Evans; Ben Williams. Replacements: Jason Keights, A James; Andrew Slark, Craig Barnett; Mason Kerrison; Sam Cataki.
 
Haverfordwest: Jake Morgan: Charlie Kelly; Ifan Williams; Iestyn Arnold; Logan Young:  Adam Phillips; Liam Eaton: Dan Berry; Iori Curtis; Terry Lovell: Jack Clancy;  Ieuan Watkins: Ioan Hawkridge-Jones; Mikey Griffiths; Dylan Williamson. Replacements: Jamie Zambas; Andrew Edwards; Devin Williams; Isaac Kelso-Jones; Matty Phillips.




 
 





 

Feature Match Two:

 

Division Two (West):

 

Seagulls  smash struggling Borderers

 

Fishguard & Goodwick 62 - Whitland 0

 
On paper, it looked a crunch Pembrokeshire derby in the battle to avoid relegation to Division 3, writes Fraser Watson.
 
But although just six points separated Fishguard and Whitland in the table before kick-off, over the 80 minutes the sides were worlds apart as the Seagulls ran in 10 tries to allay any fears of being embroiled in a dogfight.
 
The Borderers, however, now face a must-win game at home to Penclawdd next Saturday, and must somehow bounce back from conceding 119 points in their last two games without mustering a single score themselves.
 

Bonus point sealed before the break

 
The opening minutes were scrappy and when the first score did come from Jake Jenkins, it was a fortuitous one.
 
The returning No.10 mishit his chip forward only for the loose ball to bounce back into his path, and he duly hacked ahead before regathering the ball for a try he then converted.
 
Whitland responded when No.8 Jack Tucker, one of their best performers throughout, won a penalty at the breakdown but after opting for the posts, Ollie Brooks was short with his attempt from 40 metres.
 
But as the half wore on, Fishguard began to dominate and the strong carrying of No.8 Rhys Lewis and centre Dan Cleary in particular made regular inroads. A second score looked inevitable and when it came, it was Lewis who crossed from close range and Jenkins again did the honours.
 
Lewis got his second after a charge from hooker Liam Wilkes set the platform for Bryn Thomas to give the scoring offload to his skipper, and the bonus point was then sealed before half-time when Jenkins broke clean through in midfield and fed Dom Sinnott - who shrugged off the tackle of Ashton O'Riordan to go over out wide and make it 24-0 at the break.
 

Sinnott shines in second half

 
Any remote notion of a Whitland fightback in the second half was banished moments after the whistle as second row Cai Llewellyn rounded off a series of powerful carries with a try before another Cleary break culminated in him setting up centre partner Dylan James to score.
 
The one-way traffic continued as Sinnott provided the game's best finish, latching onto a Jenkins cross-field kick and beating two defenders down the left wing before diving over near the corner flag.
 
Another Lewis burst set up the next score as Jenkins sauntered over before Cleary was again the creator, suppling the final pass to Sinnott to complete his hat-trick of tries.
 
In the dying minutes, Whitland tried to attack from deep as Tucker and No.9 Gareth Davies both made breaks but lacked support, and there was still time for one more home try to compound the rout. A powerful burst from Ryan McVeigh saw the veteran prop hauled down inches short, but second row Llewellyn was on hand to barge over for his second try and for the fourth time in the second half, Jenkins added the extras.
 
It's now back-to-back wins for Tom Meredith's side and the opportunity to push for a top half finish. For Whitland, the mission is still possible - but anything short of a drastic improvement next week and they have a mountain to climb.
 
Fishguard head coach Tom Meredith: "We started a bit slow in the first half but we then played some really good rugby today. For me, it's probably the best we've played all season with forward and backs connecting so I'm really pleased.
 
"It's successive wins now and hopefully we can back it up against Loughor next week."
 
Whitland player-coach Gareth Davies: "It was a really tough day at the office. We just didn't turn up from the first whistle and if I'm brutally honest, we got bullied. There were too many errors on our part but to be fair to Fishguard, they were clinical and put us to bed in the first 30 minutes. It's frustrating but we have to keep fighting and we move on to Penclawdd next week."
 
Fishguard and Goodwick: Dan Evans: Dom Sinnott; Dan Cleary; Dylan James; Dec Thomas: Jake Jenkins; Max Jones: Will Delaney; Liam Wilkes; Ryan McVeigh: Cai Llewellyn; Griff Williams: Bryn Thomas; Jack Richards; Rhys Lewis (Capt). Replacements: Will Robinson; Iwan McVeigh; Joss Lerwill; Ely Hannigan; Kevin Ormond, Simon James, Sion Perkins.
 
Whitland: Ashton O'Riordan: Tomos Hughes; Lucas Dance; Osian Thomas; Sion Griffiths: Ollie Brooks; Gareth Davies: Shane Clarke; Jonny Phillips; Ceiron Evans: Aaron Thompson; Trystan Bowen: Matt Driver; Benji Kirk (Capt); Jack Tucker. Replacements: Jack Jenkins; Jack Evans; Charles Williams; Shane Rossiter.
 
Man of the match: Rhys Lewis.
 
The sponsors opted for Lewis, and it was hard to disagree. While Llewellyn and Cleary both made strong cases, the carrying power of the skipper, both in the tight exchanges and open play, regularly got his side on the front foot and he scored two tries to boot.
 
Referee: Wayne Davies.
 
Fishguard & Goodwick: Dan Evans: Dom Sinnott; Dan Cleary; Dylan James; Dec Thomas: Jake Jenkins; Max Jones; Will Delaney; Liam Wilkes; Ryan McVeigh: Cai Llewellyn; Griff Williams:  Bryn Thomas; Jack Richards; Rhys Lewis. Replacements: Will Robinson; Iwan McVeigh; Kevin Ormond; Simon James; Sion Perkins.
 
Whitland:  Ashton O’Riordan: Tomos Hughes; Lucas Dance; Osian Thomas; Sion Griffiths: Ollie Brooks; Gareth Davies: Johnny Phillips; Matt Driver; Shane Clark: Aaron Thompson; Alan Proctor: Trystan Bowen; Benji Kirk; Jack Tucker. Replacements: Jack Jenkins; Jack Evans; Ceiron Evans; Charles Williams; Shane Rossiter.




 
 

Premiership Division:

 

Otters gain fantastic victory over league leaders Ponty

 

Narberth 21 - Pontypridd 14

 
**No details provided for this match
 
Narberth: Ashley Sutton: Harry Fuller; Ilan Phillips; Ryan Davies; Osian Hill: Jonathan Rogers; Josh Thomas: Tomos Richardson; Tom Clarke; Ryan Rees: Sam Martin; Gruff Evans: Evan Sheldon; Tom Powell (Capt); Roy Osborn. Replacements: Kyle Hamer; George Rossiter; Tom Slater; Kieran Allen; Caleb Salmon; Nico Setaro; Dean James; Brad Cramb.
 
 
 

Championship Division (West):

 

Crymych battle hard against section front-runners

 

Bonymaen 33 - Crymych 12

 
Crymych continue to find it hard-going at the moment in this very challenging section but the current squad at Parc Lloyd Thomas certainly can’t be faulted for their effort as they showed grit aplenty against a team which has won nine of its ten previous games and are now two points in front of the chasing pack but have two games in hand.
 
The Preseli Men had already lost 38-18 in their home match but were still level at 7-all towards the interval, when ‘Bony’ grabbed two further scores to lead 21-7, which didn’t reflect Crymych’s part in the game.
 
The Preseli Men’s try came from Trystan Griffiths, home from his opera singing duties and working hard up front alongside  Matthew Freebury, Lee Griffiths and Iestyn Wood, whilst skipper Daf Phillips and Deiniol Matthews tried to keep their backs moving with limited possession – and their second score came from centre Tomos Phillips, after Eilir George and Aled Lewis had been involved.
 
Bonymaen’s first-half tries came from second row Trystan Henderson, No 8 Rhys Leonard and full back Laurence Thomas, who opened their account and converted all three.
 
In the second period it was scrum half Gareth Andrew’s try which ensured a bonus point and flanker Tom Poole rounded things off, converted by Thomas, so The Preseli Men returned home with nothing to show but with their heads held high afterwards!
 
Crymych: Eilir George: Laurence Headlam; Tomos Phillips; Aled Lewis; Jac Griffiths: Deiniol Matthews; Daf Phillips (Capt): Harri Vaughan; Lee Griffiths; Lloyd Davies: Dion Gibby; Matthew Freebury; Osian Thomas: Sion Wilson; Iestyn Wood. Replacements: Rhys Richards, Morgan James; Trystan Griffiths; Steffan Crossman.
 
 

Division One (West):

 

Seasiders stay in contention

 

Tenby United 33 - Yr Hendy 17

 
Tenby United gained revenge for their 30-40 loss at Yr Hendy, their only defeat of the season so far, with this comfortable revenge score at Heywood Lane, where they were already 26-10 ahead at the break and maintained control thereafter.
 
The Seasiders were in control up front via their experienced forwards like Ethan Morgan, Luke Dedman, Dan Colley, and Dom Colman but coach Jonathan Evans was quick to sing the praises of others like  Jack Brown, Josh Hamer and especially prop Jack Davies, who joined from Pembroke Dock Harlequins and is growing in stature with every game.
 
Bowyn Clark was another youngster who was a bundle of energy at scrum half as he linked well with Lloyd Thomas, who controlled play well and kicked four out of five conversions to tries by Dan Colley (his second brace in consecutive games), centre Jackson Gravatt, flanker Hamer and replacement Gwion Jones.
 
For Yr Hendy, there were tries from scrum half Aarron Edwards and centre Rhys Harries alongside both conversions and a penalty from outside half Tyler Page – and Tenby United will be aiming to maintain this sort of form as they travel next Saturday to Swansea Uplands, who are a strong team who are fourth in the table.
 
Tenby United: Geraint Jones: Jordan Asparassa; Jackson Gravatt; Tom Edmonds; Mathew Lewis: Lloyd Thomas; Bowyn Clark: Jack Davies; Jack Brown; Ethan Morgan: Luke Dedman; Tom Barrass (Capt): Josh Hamer; Dan Colley; Dom Colman. Replacements: Hywel Baker; Alex Jenkins; Cian Evans; Jesse James; Gwion Jones.
 
 
 

Division Four (West) A:

 

Saints break down Bydder after bus drama

 

Llanybydder 3 - St Davids 45

 
St Davids kick-started 2026 with seven tries in an away win at Llanybydder, writes Fraser Watson.
 
It didn't go to plan pre-match for the visitors, forced to travel up in cars at the 11th hour due to an issue with the team bus, and they were met with stubborn resistance from their hosts in a scrappy first 40 minutes.
 
It was winger Danny Voyce who opened the scoring when some good interplay from the away pack set up an overlap out wide, but Bydder hit back through a penalty from No.10 Osian Roberts. Crucially though, with the score 5-3 just moments before the interval, Ben Joyce went over from a set move at a scrum and Aaron Foster converted.
 
The second half was then one sided, winger Luke Bamford taking advantage of a missed kick to touch to score - before Joyce combined with Nathan Foster and the flanker duly slipped the scoring pass back to the centre for his second try.
 
Aled Davies then came off the bench to round off a series of strong carries with a try before skipper Foster went over himself following a blindside attack involving Voyce and Will Lewis.
 
Harvey Lavin added the final try after gathering Voyce's grubber kick out wide with man of the match Aaron Foster, switched to a new role at full-back, adding four second half conversions.
 
"It was a very good team performance against a decent Llanybydder side," said St Davids head coach Bruce Evans.
 
"We went in 12-3 ahead of the break but it could have been tighter. In the second half we managed a flurry of tries to secure the bonus point and gave everyone on the bench a run out. It was good preparation for the home game with Newcastle Emlyn next week."
 
St Davids: Aaron Foster: Luke Bamford; Harvey Lavin; Ben Joyce; Danny Voyce: Kieran Owen; Tom Goodson: Ethan Griffiths; Dan Murphy; Charlie Lavin: Iestyn Owen; Cameron Sapsford: Daf Williams; Nathan Foster (Capt); George Raymond. Replacements: Bob Froy; Adam Williams; Ben Lloyd; Aled Davies; Will Lewis; Kevin Ormond.
 



 

Wasps win second victory of the season

 

Llangwm 20 - Teirw Crymych 14

 
Llangwm played some of their best rugby of the season as they fended off the strong challenge from Teirw Crymych to win their second match from nine starts – and gained revenge for a 12-24 reverse when the teams met at Parc Lloyd Thomas last October.
 
This entertaining tussle was watched by a good crowd at Pill Parks and The Wasps’ pack is acquiring a growing reputation with their ball-winning capacity and on this occasion two of their three tries came from flankers Dylan Rowles and Morgan Richards as they rounded off superbly-organised forward drives organised by Ieuan Power, Phil Llewellyn and Callum Jenkins.
 
Their third score saw powerhouse centre Yale Grice storm through the middle after good work by half backs George James, who also landed a conversion and penalty, and Ewan McDonald, playing on permit from Pembroke Dock Quins and controlling play with his tactical kicking.
 
For The Bulls, there were tries from Deian James and Lewis Schofield, both converted by Tomos Davies, as this was another game played in good spirit and typical of the kind of Pembrokeshire derbies to be found at this level!
 
Llangwm: Dylan Philpott: Aidan Rees; Yale Grice; Owain Jones; Joe Johns: Ewan McDonald; George James: Ieuan Power; Phil Llewellyn; Callum Jenkins: James Wade; Jake Thomas: Morgan Rees; Dylan Rowles; Jason Mock. Replacements: Callum Josling;  Liam Barber; Kieran Sinclair; Andrew Evans; Alfie Elrick.
 
Teirw Crymych Squad: Carwyn James. Morgan John, Aneirin Rees; Steff Sloth; Fraser James; Owain Rees; Ethan John; Tomos Davies; Will Boulton; Luke Freebury; Dylan Harries; Tomos Tagg; Rhys Davies; Gwion Evans; Iwan James; Tomos Davies; Lloyd Hughes
 
 
**MATCHES POSTPONED**
 

Division Three (West)

 

Teifisiders called off in Tumble

Tumble P Cardigan P

 
**Ground unfit for play
 
Cardigan: Shaun Leonard:  Llyr Jones; Iwan John; Emyr Harries; Alun Jenkins: Jac Davies; Ifan James: Luke Palmer Davies; Owen Fletcher; Andrew Jones: Flynn Tjoonk; Dean Harries: Kieran Hurley; Rhodri Davies; Marcus Castle (Capt). Replacements: Ben Hughes; Dan Jones; Jack Stone; Joe Thomas; Sam Lloyd.
 
 
 

Narberth Athletic unable to field a team

 

Milford Haven P-P Narberth Athletic

 
Milford Haven: James Williams: Owyn Griffiths; Robbie Jones; Dan Jenkins; Aaron Cookson: Efan Morgan; Dan McClelland: Aaron Mayne; Arron Davies; Quinn McGrath: Cian Harries; Ethan Aldred: Dylan Morgan; Ieuan Davies; Jordan Palmer. Replacements: Jordan Davies, Dan France-Miller; Rhys Blayney; Chris Treiber-Jenkins; Sam Phillips.
 
 

Division Four (West):

 

Seasiders Seconds unable to raise a team

 

Dreigiau Emlyn P-P Tenby United Athletic

 
 
 

Quins unable to field a team

 

Pontyberem P-P Pembroke Dock Harlequins