It was a bitterly cold Carmarthen Park that staged the Konica Minolta Cup tie between the Quins and Kidwelly and for most of the first half the rugby did little to warm the fans huddled against the biting wind.

Kidwelly did their best against the higher ranked Carmarthen team but the early play from both sides lacked creativity and mainly progressed laterally between the “22’s”.

During this time the Black and Ambers did take the lead with a 40m. penalty kicked by Leighton Walters but the home side soon replied with two penalties scored by Mark Jones.

The crowd had to wait until almost half time before the Quins put on a flurry of activity and the ball passed through many hands before Jim Morgan made the final break and set free captain, Andrew Thomas, for a try in the corner.

Although down 11-3, Kidwelly started more brightly in the second half and attacked the Carmarthen line but the home side defended strongly and started to look dangerous on the counter attack.

One such counter attack saw Josh Freeman charging down his wing and, when finally tackled, he found Jim Morgan on his shoulder ready to take the ball under the posts. Mark Jones converted the try.

Still in the third quarter a Carmarthen rolling maul pushed play into the opposition “22” and from the resulting scrum a miss pass from Dan Hawkins saw Daniel Gravelle free under the posts only for him to drop the ball.

Red faces were diminished, however, when the referee went back for a penalty and a couple of moves ended with Kevin Allen forcing himself over the line on the blind side.

The visitors continued to battle but were now beginning to tire quite noticeably making it easier for the fitter Division 1 side to find space.

Into the final quarter and Jim Morgan took a tap penalty and made 40m. down field before being tackled. He was then backed up quickly by the rest of the pack and a rolling maul allowed James Jones to score the fourth try to which Mark Jones added the points.

A few minutes later inter passing between the Quins back row cut a huge swathe through the Kidwelly defence. Play then went through several phases, with the opposition defence scrabbling desperately, before Barry Maddocks found enough room to score the final try which Mark Jones again converted.

The final score was Carmarthen Quins 37 Kidwelly 3 and it could be said that the Quins professionally won the game comfortably without having to change up the gears. Others might say, however, that they are still searching for creativity and a cutting edge in the back division to enhance their good forward play.

Reporter: Keith Bond