Principality Premiership

Carmarthen Quins 29 Llandovery 7

After their surprise defeat at the hands of Aberavon the previous week, the Quins came back to form in style with this four tries to one win over the Drovers, writes Tom Hughes.

The Towy Valley derby was not exactly one-sided but the Quins were always in control and secured the bonus point in the very last movement of the game when back row Sion Bennett went over.

The win takes them back into second position in the Premiership and sees Llandovery drop into eighth place from fifth.

Wins by Llanelli and Cross Keys plus a losing bonus point for Bedwas meant the Drovers fell a worrying three places in the table.

The Drovers have found it difficult this season to string together a sequence of good results and after the easy win over Newport, they again disappointed coach Lyndon Lewis with this sub standard performance in front of a big Carmarthen Park crowd.

“We will have to play a lot better against Llanelli on Saturday or we will suffer another defeat.”

“We had consistency last year and this is what we are lacking in the current campaign but we have good players and we’ll bounce back” added Lewis

The Drovers played second fiddle up front to a Quins side that was more dynamic in the contact area and more confident with ball in hand, epitomised by the storming display of Ellis Lloyd.

Flanker Lloyd who has proved a real thorn in Llandovery sides in recent years on grabbed a try in each half and was the outstanding player on the feld.

Llandovery were not helped in the first half by a failure to kick their goals and trailed to an Ellis try and five points from the boot of young fly half Dan Jones.

When tries from the non stop Ellis and Wales 7s specialist Lee Williams were both converted by the excellent Jones the Quins were clear at 24-0 and the visitors were facing one of their heaviest ever defeats against their old rivals.

A yellow card for former Drover Haydn Pugh then stalled the Quins momentum and to their credit Llandovery came back with a penalty try at the scrum, converted by fly half James Garland.

With replacements Lawrence Reynolds and Matthew Jacobs putting more vim and vigour into the Drovers effort, it was not until the death that powerful back row Bennett sealed the bonus point after a sweeping Quins move.