Neath facing tough times after Pontypridd drubbing

NEATH were left shell-shocked by the biggest defeat in their history yesterday as Emyr Williams’s red card contributed to a 64-15 mauling at the hands of Pontypridd.

The Gnoll side were 17-3 down when the flanker received his marching orders for motioning a head butt towards a Pontypridd player around a quarter of the way into the Principality Premiership clash.

Given the visitors’ start to the match is highly debatable whether Neath would have got anything from the encounter anyway had Williams not been sent off.

What it did do was make an already difficult task impossible and Pontypridd fully made use of the spare man, running in seven tries in all, five coming with Neath down to 14 men.

Neath have to travel to the Bridge Field in Bedwas next and they’ll know that their opponents will be smarting themselves having lost to Aberavon yesterday.

For Pontypridd, it was more or less a procession at the Gnoll with Mathew Nuthall crossing twice and Wayne O’Connor, Cory Hill, Dan Godfrey, Craig Locke and Scott Roberts also going over.

Fly-half Dai Flanagan put in a virtuoso performance with the boot, kicking five penalties and converting four of the tries. Deputy Lewis K Williams later added three more conversions to fully rub salt into the Neath wound.

All Neath could manage was tries from Gareth McCarthy and Rhodri Clancy and a conversion and penalty for Dai Langdon on a black day for the Welsh All Blacks.

Coach Patrick Horgan will have some job on his hands ahead of the trip to Bedwas and for the rest of the season after Neath suffered another hiding at home, their fourth defeat in six so far overall.

In the case of Bedwas, they’ll be wondering today how they let victory at Aberavon slip from their clutches as a late Craig Evans penalty gave the Wizards a first win of the season at the Talbot Athletic Ground.

After Rhys Hutchinson and Tom Rowlands crossed in the first five minutes and Richard Powell slotted a hat-trick of penalties as Bedwas led 19-5 early in the second-half. On other days the hosts wouldn’t have found a way back but this time they did.

With Richard Thomas having already scored, Jonathan Phillips did likewise then a penalty try put Aberavon in front for the first time only for Ethan Davies to seemingly win it for the away side with a penalty of his own.

But in late drama, Evans held his nerve in front of goal to give coach Simon King, his players and their fans one in the ‘W’ column.

Out in front at the top of the table though is Llandovery and they continued their remarkable start to the campaign by registering a fifth straight bonus-point win at home against Newport, scoring six tries in a 38-19 success.

They only led 12-8 at half-time and it was only in the closing 15 minutes or so that the Drovers pulled clear of the Blacks & Ambers. Aaron Warren, Rhodri Williams (2), Matthew Jacobs, Jake Randell and Wyn Jones were on the scoresheet with tries while Hywel Stoddart and Craig Attwell replied.

There was a real war of attrition at Parc y Scarlets where Llanelli defeated Cross Keys 12-6 with all of the points coming through kicks at goal. Jonny Lewis nailed four for the hosts and Dorian Jones and Dean Gunter landed one each for the visitors who had to settle for a losing bonus point.

Cardiff are one of the in-form teams at the moment and they recorded a fourth successive win with a 23-15 triumph over old adversaries Swansea at the Arms Park.

Joe Griffin scored a try and kicked a conversion and two penalties to aid Cardiff’s cause with Thomas Young and Richard Smith also crossing the whitewash. Richard Williams had given Swansea an early lead with a try but Sam Lewis’s score was too little, too late.

Bridgend now prop up the Premiership following a 28-18 loss at home to Carmarthen Quins. Jason Harries (2), Darren Daniel and James Dixon were the Quins’ try scorers with Arthur Ellis and Luke Morgan replying for the Ravens.