Division 3 West
Cardigan 22 Pembroke Dock Harlequins 12
New coaches Colin Davies and Mathew Monaghan saw their team get off to a flier when they beat Pembroke Dock Quins at the King George field.
The two former players have taken the coaching role on as volunteers after the Gwbert Road based club were forced to let previous coach Colin Horscroft go for financial reasons and they are now very much back to basics and are unable to splash the cash as they have in the past.
The Cardi’s fielded probably their youngest and most unfamiliar first team in decades with ten players making their first team debut and there was a fair bit of head scratching in the Gollop Stand when the players ran out.
Hooker Luke Palmer Davies, second row Sion Phillips and blind side Dafydd Rotie have come straight into the pack from the youth team and they acquitted themselves very well and there were plenty of positives for the coaches to take from this new season opener.
Behind the pack young half backs Tomos Jones and Llyr Jones played confidently and skipper Harries led by example with some crunching tackles and powerful bursts.
Davies said that he and his coaching team were very happy with the win and commented:” Considering we had so many young players in the side we did very well and it was great to get off to a winning start.
“However we have a lot of work to do but we are confident in the players that we have. The game was a bit too slow and stop start for us and this played into the Quins hands but we hope that in the near future we can pick up the pace to prevent this happening.
“This season we have not set any targets and just want to go out and enjoy our rugby without the pressure that comes with chasing promotion so that we can develop our own young players and prepare them for senior rugby and play with a smile on our faces.”
The Quins who were unable to field a side for a number of games last season started well under coach and former second row Ossie Boswell and his team lead 5-0 at the break thanks to a well worked try by centre and skipper Thomas Doyle.
Cardigan though hit back early in the second half when right winger Rhydian Jenkins broke out of defence and put skipper and centre Emyr Harries in for a try which Harries converted. The Cardigan captain followed this up with a penalty to put his team further ahead.
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Experienced forward Rob Connolly playing in the unfamiliar position of number eight used all his second row knowledge to pinch a ball against the head at a line out and he powered his way over the line and Harries again added the extras.
The visitors replied from a tapped penalty when powerful prop Josh Boswell barged his way over from close range and outside half Jake Griffiths converted to make the score 17-12 an set up a nervy last ten minutes
Cardigan though had the final say when replacement Owain Rees scored an unconverted try to complete a well deserved win by 22-12.