Pembroke Dock Quins 5 pts.Cardigan 13

If points were given out for effort and determination, the Quins would have won this by a street, but unfortunately they paid for a slow start, which in the end had a big bearing on the outcome of the game.

It could not have started any better for the Teifisiders as they put the Quins under pressure straight from the kick-off, and it took them only three minutes to get on the scoreboard, when flanker Osian Rees forced his way over close to the posts.

Centre Emyr Harries added the extras, and with the visitors keeping the pressure on, it was no surprise when Harries put over a 30-yard penalty to increase his side’s lead to 10-0.

With only 15 minutes gone, it looked ominous for the Quins, but the hosts are made of sterner stuff these days, and when fullback Lewis Davies put a penalty right on Cardigan’s five-yard line, it looked a golden opportunity to score, but after a huge effort, they failed to cross the whitewash.

With 10 minutes of the half remaining, Lewis Davies pushed a penalty attempt to the left of the upright.

Cardigan got out of jail, and to make matters worse for the Quins, Harries added his second penalty with the last kick of the half to send his side in 13 points to the good.

The Quins were soon on the offensive after the break, and it was only Cardigan’s magnificent defence which was keeping them out.

Despite determined runs from Hywel Baker, Jack Davies, Sam James and Harry Owen, the Quins tried to force their way over, but it was all coming to nothing, with Cardigan barely getting out of their 22.

With the gloom setting in, it was not until five minutes from time that the Quins got on the scoreboard when replacement Daffy Lewis squeezed over in the corner.

Lewis Davies was unlucky with the conversion as it just faded at the last minute.

The Quins were soon back on the attack as the match drew to a close, but could not force a losing bonus point.

Looking at the pitch after the final whistle, it resembled a chocolate and lime sweet, with the London Road end a mudbath and the Charles Thomas end a green oasis.

Quins team: Lewis Davies, Liam Hargreaves-Gibson, Thomas Doyle (capt), Jake Griffiths, Aaron James, Luca Tremarco, James Skeels, Hywel Baker, Harry Owen, Jack Byrne, Sam James, Alex Pierce, Neil Brace, George Bellmaine, Jack Davies.

Replacements: Rhys Bradney, Stefan Halward, Daffy Lewis.