Division 1 west
Newcastle Emlyn 22 Gorseinon 16
…Newcastle Emlyn climbed to the top of the table following a hard fought victory over Gorseinon to complete a league double.
It was the visitors though who struck first when after only two minutes visiting outside half Liam Popham converted a penalty kick and the next twenty odd minutes belonged to the visitors as they ran at the home side at every opportunity. Full back Andrew Steel proved to be a real handful with his strong runs from the back and Popham extended their lead with another well struck penalty kick. The red and whites finally opened their account against the run of play when scrum half Dafydd Evans intercepted a pass and sprinted some sixty metres to score a fine individual try which was converted by Dan Davies.Evans enjoyed a fine match and his box kicking was superb and he continually drove Gorseinon back into their own half.
The visitors though continued to attack and Popham regained the lead for them with another penalty goal but Emlyn hit back just after the break when number eight Brynmor Jones sprinted thirty metres to score under the posts for Davies to convert.The home side dominated the second half but any thoughts of a try fest were dispelled by a determined Gorseinon defence and some poor finishing by the home side but the hosts extended their lead when Dan Davies converted a penalty on the hour.
Despite the urgings of man of the match Dafydd Evans, the red and whites struggled to cross the Gorseinon line despite some powerful carries by Elliot Rees and Brynmor Jones. This all changed five minutes from time when an excellent series of drives saw the ball moved wide and Teifion Davies timed his pass for winger Dan Davies to cross for a third home try.
The visitors continued to counter attack every time they had the ball and with time running out they moved the ball wide and centre Luke Cross strolled over for a try, converted by Popham to give the visitors a well deserved losing bonus point.
Llangennech 24 Crymych 10
Crymych may have to launch another Harry Houdini like escape if current trends are an indicator following defeat at the hands of Llangennech.
The Preselimen who are on a poor run are now sharing the bottom spot with two other teams on the same amount of points and a gap is starting to develop with the rest above them pulling away.
Their chances of winning this one were hampered with the loss of number eight Osian Davies through a red card for a harsh high tackle and further woe was to follow late on when skipper Rhys Davies suffered the same fate following a dust up.
The hosts were ahead at the break as winger Tom Davies and full back Tom Neale both went over for unconverted tries, but Crymych hit back with a penalty from fly half Ifan Phillips.
Gareth George sneaked over for an early try for the hosts in the second half that Neale converted, but Crymych hit back as winger Laurence Headlam rounded off a fine move to touch, and Phillips converted to make it 17-10 and Crymych were very much back in the game. However with just thirteen men on the field Llangennech made them pay as No 8 Jordan Saunders powered his way over and Neale converted to seal the win.
