Carmarthen Quins faced Whitland and a heavy, quagmire of a pitch last Saturday in another local derby. Whitland were also on a high after winning their last two matches against Dunvant and league leaders, Tonmawr so it was always going to prove a hard fought battle.

Whitland kicked off but the Quins were soon on the offensive and, after exerting pressure for some time, gained a penalty under the posts which Mark Jones converted.

Carmarthen continued to have the better of the first quarter particularly in the scrums but only held a tenuous three point lead as a result of another Mark Jones penalty and an Emyr Williams drop goal.

Mark Jones put the Quins further in the lead with another penalty as Whitland desperately tackled and committed offences defending their line. With half time approaching, however, the home side put in their big effort and it was the visitors struggling to defend their line. During this time Emyr Williams put over a 38m. penalty and then with the whistle about to be blown, a rare missed tackle by Carmarthen, allowed Emyr Williams under the posts for a try he converted himself.

Perhaps a little fortunately, Whitland went into half time leading 13 – 9 but it showed that the game was going to be tight and could hinge on a simple error or a brief lack of discipline.

Again the visitors began the half well and within minutes another Mark Jones penalty had reduced the deficit. However, Whitland now used a kicking game to keep the Quins at bay and seemed to be more decisive in their play. Carmarthen were beginning to get themselves bogged down and frustrated.

The tide began to turn again, however, with fifteen minutes to go. The Quins kicked deep into the Whitland “22” and then exerted tremendous pressure mixing rolling mauls with runners crashing into the opposition. Whitland defended bravely but eventually continued attempts to slow down play led to a yellow card. Carmarthen failed to capitalize on a series of penalties to touch on 5m. and it was after they opted for a scrum, that Dan Hawkins was able to get the ball out to Alan Mason who crashed over the line. In the confusion the referee took the players under the posts after awarding a penalty try and made it easier for Mark Jones to add the points.

At this stage, Whitland would not give in and were still looking dangerous on the attack but then the visitors broke away and both backs and forwards pummelled the try line without success until Mark Jones pushed his team clear with a well taken drop goal.

With the game coming to an end the Quins broke out from their own half with Jim Morgan. He passed to Daniel Gravelle who took the ball on before releasing to Ricky Richards. Ricky then made good ground before holding the ball up, looking for support. It was Josh Freeman who picked it up to score under the posts and make it easy for Mark Jones to finish off the scoring.

Carmarthen showed good discipline throughout this hard fought encounter and their low turnover count was exemplary in the conditions.

Final Score – Whitland 13 Carmarthen Quins 29

Next Match – Bonymaen (H) 12th. January


Reporter – Keith Bond