There were some
one-sided results throughout the Swalec leagues on Saturday (February 16), as a
busy program could take place for the first time in weeks thanks to an upturn
in the weather and the lack of Six Nations action.
In the Championship, it was defeat once more for Pontypool
and Whitland, with the former downed at home against Newbridge, and the latter
losing at near-neighbours Narberth.
Pontypool allowed Newbridge to cross their try line five
times in a 33-5 defeat - Ryan Lee, Dwayne Dyer, Stuart Davies, Stefan Morgan
and Jordan Richard all scoring. Ponty’s sole reply came from Luke Dickov, in
what was their 16th defeat in 17 league games this season.
Whitland twice took the lead at Narberth, but the boot of
James Russell won it for the Otters 19-13. He kicked three penalties and
converted Steve Martin’s try, while Scott Newton kicked two penalties and
converted a Daffydd Williams try for the Borderers in what was the away side’s
14th defeat of the season.
Elsewhere, Cardiff Met ran out 22-3 winners over Bridgend
Athletic to cement third place in the table, with No8 Sam Cross grabbing two
scores. A Steve Lewis penalty was all the Athletic responded with.
In Division One West, leaders Tondu ran out 27-3 winners at
bottom club Aberavon Quins. They scored three tries through Nick Hopson,
Matthew Phillips and Darren Thomas, while Paul Smithson converted all three and
added two penalties.
Waunarlwydd in third closed the gap on second-placed
Cwmllynfell with a 41-20 win over Ammanford, running in six tries.
In Division One East, Merthyr hammered bottom club Tredegar
62-0, with 11 tries scored in the process. Matthew Trowbridge grabbed a
hat-trick and Jason Price and Arron Howard both crossed for braces. Josh Slye,
John Chivers, Jason Pritchard and Lloyd Wood completed the rout, which was only
Merthyr’s third win of the season and moved them above Mountain Ash in the
table.
This was due to the Old Firm also falling to a heavy defeat,
going down 51-17 at Rumney. The hosts ran in six tries, including a hat-trick
for Tom Silver, in a game delayed for half an hour due to a bad injury to a
Mountain Ash player. Wayne de Crue, Danny Clarke and Carl Fish also crossed for
Rumney.
Some of the larger victories, other than Merthyr’s and
Rumney’s, came further down the league pyramid.
In Division Two North, second placed COBRA picked up a 64-9
victory at Rhyl, running in six tries in the process, while in Two East, Fleur
De Lys matched COBRA’s try-scoring exploits with six of their own in a 54-6
victory over Abercynon in a victory that moves them six points ahead of their
opponents in the table.
The biggest win of the day went to Wrexham in Three North -
the leaders ran in an impressive 20 tries and 10 conversions in a 120-0
thrashing of bottom club Holyhead.
Jonny Davies crossed for four and Andrew Clutton grabbed
three. There were also braces for Kieron Morris and Jack Ratcliffe, while Jake
Edwards, Rob Moore, Tom Crawford, Jamie Morris, Leighton Cox, James Price, Peter
Doogan and Ben Cheesborough got the others.
Price kicked nine of the conversions for a personal points
tally of 23, and Gavin Jones kicked the 10th.
The win sees Wrexham five points clear of Rhosllanerchrugog
in second, while Holyhead remain rooted to the bottom of the table with 12
defeats from 12 matches.
Three South East leaders Dowlais won 41-13 away at Cardiff
Quins, with Lloyd Morgan notching three of their six tries. Lloyd Hines,
Christian Owen and Tom Griffin grabbed the others. Three East’s top side
Newport HSOB ran in nine tries in a 57-12 win at Croesyceiliog.
Three West side Llanelli Wanderers ran in nine tries in a
53-20 win over second from bottom Milford Haven, with full back Nick Gale
scoring a hat-trick. In Four East, Cwmbran hammered struggling Machen 49-0 with
tries from Dai Thomas, Mike Davies (two), Michael Lang and Luke Brown, while
Chepstow ran in eight tries in a 50-3 win over troubled Blaina.
Three South West leaders Trebanos ran out 41-7 winners over
Resolven, where they scored seven tries, including a brace for Matthew Edwards.
Rhodri Williams, Ross Jones, Rhys Thomas, Nick Danjanovic and Chris Jones
grabbed the others.
Bryncoch bettered that result, winning 66-10 over basement
side Aberavon Green Stars, running in 10 tries in the process. It was the
visitors’ 13th defeat in 14 games.
Dinas Powys notched 10 tries in a 69-0 win over Tonna in
Five South Central. John Evans crossed for four tries, while David Lloyd,
Gareth Williams, James Smith and Nathan Williams also scored.
Finally, in Six East, Girling also ran in 10 tries in a
73-10 win over bottom club Cwmcarn. Andy Bates and Dan Tucker each scored a
brace, and Dan Howells, Adran Smith, Kyle King, Dion Perry, Grant Harrington
and a penalty try added to the score.
Trefil also won 74-0 at Malpas in the same division, running
in 10 tries of their own.
