Carmarthen Quins RFC 18 Bedwas RFC 0

Principality Welsh Premiership, Saturday 05 December 2009.

Match report by John Meredith.

After a break for the autumn internationals Bedwas visited Carmarthen Park to take on a Quins side one point above them having played one more game.

The break saw Hywel Jenkins, Deri Mattravers and Kieran Jenkins all return from injury as Bedwas hoped to get some points in what were atrocious conditions, far worse than those which Llandovery refused to play in at Bedwas. The Quins look a solid outfit on paper and have a couple of Tongan internationals on their books.

Bedwas captained by Hywel Jenkins won the toss and elected to play into the gale force wind.

The Quins were on the front foot from the kick off, winning an early set scrum and their very own South Sea Island man mountain number 8 Sione Timani sprinted in from 30 metres unopposed to score under the sticks. This guy is the biggest number 8 this writer has ever seen! Gareth Cull added the conversion but unfortunately for the home supporters the giant Tongan injured himself scoring the try and was replaced.

To their credit Bedwas worked hard in defence but rarely got into Quins territory, though when they did Greendale missed two kickable penalties. The half belonged to Quins who added a further try courtesy of a large slice of luck. Tom Edwards’s pass back to Andrew McLaughlan bounced off the latter’s legs and was pounced upon by home flanker Wayne Williams for an opportunist try. This time Cull missed the conversion but as the half drew to a close added a penalty goal as the rain lashed down.

Any hopes Bedwas had of using the elements to their advantage for the second half soon faded away as the home side dominated territory and camped in the Bedwas half.

Considering the conditions both sides handled the ball well but try scoring opportunities were hard to come by. Cull added a further second half penalty for the only score of the half as defences were on top.

Bedwas found themselves down to fourteen men as Captain Hywel Jenkins was sin-binned following a bout of fisticuffs. Bedwas defended resolutely in his absence, Stuart Phillips leading by example.

The match ended in pouring rain and driving wind as spectators keenly sought the shelter of the clubhouse.

Bedwas Man of the Match

Stuart Phillips up against his former club played his guts out and covered every blade of grass.