Division 3 west
Cardigan 102 St Davids 3
Cardigan clocked over a century of points as they ran in tries for fun against a side unable to offer a great deal, especially in the second half and this was a sad old day for St Davids RFC, but they will no doubt bounce back as they are a resilient bunch of men.
The Saints have been up against it for several seasons with playing numbers severely depleted and they struggled to field a team for this trip north across the border into Ceredigion and when Sion Hughes ran in for the opening try after just a minute it was always going to be a very tough afternoon for the visitors.
However there was no disputing their courage and commitment and they tackled and fought it out until the last minute but the final whistle came as a huge relief to the Pembrokeshire outfit and the official in charge as it became rather tedious at the end with the hosts walking in for easy scores.
Tries followed at regular intervals after Hughes had made the initial inroad with skipper and full back John Lumb crossing for six tries, centre Emyr Harries helped himself to a hat trick as did Hughes and there were two for stand in scrum half Tom Dunn. Left wing Kieran Hurley also got in on the act with a try but the best of the lot was scored by tight head prop Andrew Fletcher who jinked his way through several defenders before touching down under the posts.
Centre Harries landed eight conversions to take his personal tally to 31 points and stand off Iwan John added three more conversions whilst the solitary St Davids score was provided by outside Mattie McLeod who slotted over a penalty in the opening minutes.
McLeod was one of several players who stood out for the Saints but collectively it was tough going and it is going to be another long hard winter for the city side.In complete contrast Cardigan made hay whilst the sun shone and ran in for some sparkling tries and they will need to show the same handling skills this weekend.
Next up for Cardigan is a much tougher proposition in the shape of Laugharne who they host this Saturday. Their opponents have won five out of six to date including a 22-10 win over the Cardi’s on the opening day of the season and coach Colin Davies will be keen to avenge this defeat by the Cocklemen.
