Fardre clinch quarter-final place

Llantwit Fardre’s dreams of a day out at the Millennium Stadium continue after the Two East side dumped first division Glamorgan Wanderers out of the competition to book a quarter-final berth against Llangennech.

Fardre fly-half and ex Wanderers player, Jason Pocock, came back to haunt his old club, producing an excellent individual performance at stand-off that saw him claim 16 of his side's points, including a brace, in their 26-18 win at the Memorial Ground. Karl Thomas and Lloyd Morgan also crossed as the visitors outscored their rivals four tries to two.

Club Secretary Jeff Lewis was delighted by his team’s performance at the weekend, the second time they have taken the scalp of Division One opposition in the competition.

“I think they probably underestimated us a bit. We were well worth our win and perhaps even the score flatters them a little as we conceded two soft tries late on.”

Fardre now travel to One West outfit Llangennech on March 22 and Lewis says his team are relishing the chance.

“The boys have shown great desire and determination so far, and we have definitely surprised a few people.

“We are looking forward to the test Llangennech pose but we have a great team spirit at the moment with the lads giving their all for one another, and we will have to be at our best to beat Llangennech who are a good side,” added Lewis.

Another side celebrating a ‘cupset' were Maesteg Quins, who battled past Kenfig Hill 12-3.

Andrew Healey was the toast of the Llynfi Valley with the back row bagging two tries for Quins, while Gareth Lewis added the extras to one to book a spot in the last eight.

 And in the quarter-final, they will face One West leaders Glynneath after they edged past Waunarlwydd 13-12.

The Neath Valley outfit crossed twice through Josh Jones and Shaun Tennent with centre Jack O’Riley firing home a penalty.

 Elsewhere, One East pacemakers Merthyr comfortably comfortably made progress with a 55-13 home win over Three East’s Risca and will now host Two West’s Amman United in the next round.

The Ironmen. who hadn’t played for five weeks before the fourth round Plate match, blew off the cobwebs to race in eight tries, with Aaron Howard and Steve James both bagging braces while Josh Flye, Chris Davies, Aaron Harris and Martin Luckwell also crossed the whitewash.

Team Manager Paul Lewis was satisfied with his team’s performance on Saturday.

“Both sides were a bit rusty- I don’t think either team had played for a few weeks, but the boys were delighted to get out on the pitch and play some rugby again.

“They gave us a bit of a fright early on, going into a 10-3 lead, but after that it was one way traffic- we scored eight tries but it could have been more,” added Lewis.

Despite being delighted to book a quarter-final spot, Lewis admitted the club’s main priority this season is claiming the league title and with it promotion to the Championship.

“No doubt there is a buzz about the club now that we’re only a couple of games away from the final, but ultimately our goal is to win the league and that’s definitely the club’s main priority.”

Merthyr return to league action this Saturday when they host Rumney at the Wern.

Completing the quarter-final line-up are 2012 runners up Nant Conwy, who  kept their dream of a return to the Millennium Stadium alive with a comfortable 22-3 win over One North rivals Caernarfon. The North Walians will now face a long trip south to face Two East leaders Rhiwbina.