Pembrokeshire KO Cup – First round:

 

Calum double helps Borderers through

 

Whitland 29 - Cardigan 11

 
Whitland moved comfortably into the second round of the Knock Out Cup as they fought off a strong first-half challenge by a gritty Cardigan side and kept a clean sheet afterwards to earn a home tie against old rivals Fishguard & Goodwick.
 
Leading the way for The Borderers was flanker Callum Evans, with two of their four tries, the others coming from full back Olly Hughes and Jack Davies on his debut – whilst Cardigan skipper Tom Taylor and No 10 Luke Rogers put their experience to good effect alongside hooker Andrew Fletcher, who claimed their only try - and there were also solid performances by props Nathan Bowen and Ben Hughes, plus good back row covering from Rhodri Davies and Aaron Tomkinson.
 
Also making his first start for Whitland was young prop Tristan Bowen, who played well alongside Tomos Evans and Iwan Lewis, whilst Dai Ebsworth and Benji Kirk were strong in the second row – and Geraint Jones not only played well in the No 10 shirt he also landed both conversions and a penalty in the first half and a third two-pointer after the oranges.

It was full back Hughes who opened The Borderers’ try count after quick thinking by scrum half Josh Thomas as he took a quick tapped penalty and spread play wide where Hughes was lurking with intent.
 

Borderers look strong but Teifisiders stay in contention

 
Then flanker Evans added a second after spinning out of a tackle near the Cardigan line and had the strength to reach the whitewash.
 
Cardigan kept in contention as hooker Fletcher rounded off a period of pressure to crash over the line and although full back Llyr Jones missed the conversion he was able to land two penalties to restrict the Whitland lead to 17-11.
 
If the first half had been action-packed the second half was more stop-start but The Borderers added a further twelve points whilst their defence stood firm – and it was Callum Evans who grabbed his second try after his colleagues had built up a solid platform and he broke free to go around to the posts for Geraint Jones to add the extra points.
 
Then Jack Davies, making a welcome return after three years out of the game, rounded off the scoring as he brushed off a defender and sped to the line to round off a good win for Whitland, where Cardigan can also take satisfaction from the way that they stuck to their task against a team from a higher division.
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Whitland: Olly Hughes: Johnny Thomas (Capt); Dylan Richards; Jack Davies; Trystan Rees: Geraint Jones; Josh Thomas: Tomos Evans; Iwan Lewis; Tristan Bowen: Benji Kirk; Dai Ebsworth: Calum Evans; Danny Evans; James Thomas. Replacements:  Marc Jones; Aled Phillips; James Lewis; Matt Jess; Nico Setaro.
 
Cardigan: Llyr Jones: Alun Jenkins; Ben Rogers; Tomos Griffiths; Hedd James: Luke Rogers; Tomos Jones: Nathan Bowen; Andrew Fletcher; Ben Hughes: Fraser Rees; Kester Adams: Aaron Tomkinson; Rhodri Davies; Tom Taylor. Replacements: William Brice; Dyfed Symmons; Ifan Morgan; Emyr Harries; Carwyn Vaughan.
 
 

Revised Quarter-Final Draw:

 
Whitland v Fishguard & Goodwick
Pembroke Dock Harlequins v Haverfordwest
Narberth Development Team v Aberystwyth
Milford Haven v Crymych