Blues and Blacks Complete Double

The Quins entertained Cardiff at the Park earlier than usual due to International considerations and there was not a lot between the two teams. Carmarthen held superiority at the scrums but Cardiff got the better of the territorial kicking game, thanks to Craig Morgan, and a period of loose play after the half time interval cost the home side dearly.

The visitors kicked off but the Quins began brightly with Cardiff scrambling to keep out some powerful running moves from Andrew Banfield and Richard Wilkes. Gareth Cull also had two penalty attempts in this early period but failed with both.

For the first fifteen minutes Cardiff struggled to get into their opponent’s half but when they did Gareth Davies came away with a penalty to put his side in the lead. This seemed to settle the visitors and their superior kicking game penned the Quins back.

Then Ellis Lloyd managed to steal the ball in a tackle and release Jaime Davies. He, followed by Wilkes and finally Ryan Llewellyn charged at the defence. The Blues and Blacks held out but conceded the penalty which Cull converted from wide to equalise the scores and also to take his personal tally this year past 200 points in the league. Minutes later another backs move saw Banfield making ground again, causing another penalty to be conceded, and Cull putting his team in front with another successful penalty.

Cardiff continued kicking for territory and following up quickly. Gareth Chapman was looking particularly dangerous in the loose as too was Ryan Howells but the home side were proving a better defensive unit than in some previous matches and making their first time tackles. The packs were getting a little feisty as well, keeping themselves warm on this cold afternoon but the only other score before the interval was another Gareth Davies penalty to make the score 6-6.

Carmarthen Quins had possibly their worst period after the interval. The length of Morgan’s kicks and the accuracy off the boot of Davies had the home side scrambling. They were successful for a while but then an interception allowed Rhys James to trundle under the posts for a try converted by Gareth Davies. Play continued to be scrappy and loose in the third quarter and Davies was able to come away with another penalty and at the same time Carmarthen were down to 14 men with Kevin Jones being yellow-carded.

Both teams opened up now and the result was some fine passing moves from both sides with Ryan Llewellyn and Jaime Davies dangerous for the Quins and Gareth Chapman and Darren Ryan prominent for Cardiff. With 10 minutes left Cull slotted another penalty and anything became possible.

The home pack were still working like Trojans, as they had all afternoon, and managing to get some good ball to their runners. Jaime Davies produced some individual brilliance to catch his own chip through and run 40m. before delivering to Llewellyn backing up. He was unfortunately forced into touch short. Anthony Rees and Ellis Lloyd had effective runs of their own but the Cardiff defence held and there was always Craig Morgan present to kick long and his team out of trouble.

It was a credit to the Quins that they kept battling to the end even turning down an easy penalty in extra time in order to go for the draw. Andrew Thomas, Wayne Williams and Anthony Rees had further charges at the line but the Cardiff scrambling defence held and Carmarthen Quins had lost 9-16 when the final whistle blew.

The small Carmarthen Quins squad have battled well through this tough period of three matches in a week and the five points they have accrued should hold them in good stead in the league.

Reporter – Keith Bond

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