Last gasp pen sees Quins progress

Quins fullback Chris Banfield's last minute penalty clinched victory for the hosts

Photo courtesy of AlfiePics

Carmarthen Quins advanced to the third round of the Swalec Cup with a narrow 20-18 victory over Bridgend Ravens at Carmarthen Park.

It was second time in a week that the two sides faced off, with Quins also coming out on top 34-17 last week at the Brewery Field. This, however, was a much more tightly contested match with a last minute Chris Banfield penalty needed to clinch the win.

Dai Flanagan kept the Ravens scoreboard ticking over.

 Photo courtesy of AlfiePics

In a tightly contested opening half, Quins took a lead into the changing rooms thanks to centre Alex Pickersgill’s touchdown converted by full back Banfield after the Ravens had taken the lead through an early Dai Flanagan penalty with Flanagan kicking a second penalty on the half hour to narrow Quins advantage to a single point.
The Quins should have extended their lead but failed to take advantage of a yellow card handed out to Matthew Dwyer three minutes later and the score remained 7-6 at half time.

It was the hosts that came out firing after the break with Gareth Morgan crossing, with Banfield adding the extras and also slotting his second penalty.

The Ravens for the second week running faced an uphill struggle as the game slipped out of their grasp, but the young Bridgend team dug in and hit back through two tries of their own through Josh Leyshon and Arthur Ellis, with the latter converted by Flanagan to leave the visitors 18-17 up and moments from victory.

Quins hooker Ricky Guest tests the Ravens defence

Photo courtesy of AlfiePics 

As the game drew to a close, the Quins pressed and were rewarded with a penalty, and with virtually the last kick of the day, Banfield stepped up and sealed a dramatic late win.