Llandeilo 8 Amman United 29 (From South Wales Guardian)

Llandeilo 8 Amman United 29

11:01am Thursday 3rd January 2013 in Sport

Division Three West

IT WAS a happy New Year at the top of the tree for Amman United, whose ninth league victory from ten starts saw them leap back to the head of Division 3 West.

United now have a game in hand on their closest rivals Newcastle Emlyn, who trail the valley side by two points.

Saturday’s meeting proved to be one of just a handful ofmatches to survive the holiday rain and even here things looked dicey after deluge.

However, a mid-morning pitch inspection found the Llandeilo surface in surprisingly good condition considering the weather and the fixture received the green light from all concerned.

With weather worries put to one side, Amman’s coaches found their side in top form despite their recent enforced break.

The platform for a solid victory was provided by an excellent performance from the front eight, who played the conditions perfectly.

Indeed, Amman coach Tony Williams claimed he was witnessing the finest Amman performance under adverse conditions for at least three years.

The visiting front five were outstanding, though the conditions played a part in the first try.

From a United pushover, scrum-half Joel Foster gratefully gobbled up a slippery ball to touch down.

The second of the visitors’ tries was sparked by a piece of individual brilliance from Dean Williams, whose cracking break and offload to Johnny Bevan saw the winger go over to boost his growing try tally.

In a match where tempers sometimes got the better of both sides in strength-sapping conditions, Amman used the rollingmaul to good effect once again.

This time allowing captain Andrew Lacey to grab the try.

The move was replicated soon after, this time the rolling maul rumbling over to allow blindside flanker Dai Matthews to pinch a fourth score.

Amman brought on substitute scrum half Ryan Williams near the end, and, as the pack pushed their tiring counterparts backwards, the replacement was on hand to put the icing on the cake with another bonus-point performance.

Llandeilo’s defeat leaves them two points adrift at the bottom with it all to do in 2013.

Amman’s opening match of the new year is due to see them host second-from-bottom Cardigan on Saturday (January 5).

Llandeilo meanwhile are set to travel to Tumble.