RUGBY ROUND-UP

These may be early days in a long season but after Newcastle Emlyn suffered a sixth defeat in seven Championship outings when hammered 52-19 by high-flying visitors Pontypool, the away clash with fellow strugglers Beddau this weekend could prove to be a vital encounter.

The mauling by the unbeaten Gwent side left the Red and Whites seven points from safety with four clubs relegated at the end of the campaign.

The jumbo-sized visiting pack provided a conveyor belt of quality possession to speedy backs and left Emlyn well-beaten long before the final whistle.

But despite the scoreline the Red and Whites deserved credit for sticking to the task and at the end of an entertaining spectacle came in for praise from Pooler head coach Leighton Jones.

"We are firing at the moment but in fairness to Newcastle Emlyn they battled throughout and gave us a great welcome," he said.

Emlyn started at a frenetic pace and went ahead when a flowing moved culminated in scrum-half Dafydd Evans going in for a try converted by fullback Shaun Leonard.

Perhaps predictably the Teifisiders were forced to defend, sometimes desperately, to repel the rampant visitors who opened their account when No. 8 Ben Sparks got a try that went unconverted and shortly afterwards the same player ran in for his second touchdown converted by outside half Mathew Lewis.

The sizeable home crowd was in good voice when winger Llyr Jones sprinted from near halfway for a try and Leonard added the extras, but before the interval the visitors added two further tries through scrum-half Aaron Quick and hooker Ben Parry, both converted by Lewis.

Second half tries for Pooler came via centre Kieron Meek, Sparks who completed a hat-trick and a penalty try while flanker Luke Hansford crossed for a home try.

There were many followers who felt Emlyn put up a spirited showing and a similar effort against less talented opposition could pay dividends.

A few weeks ago Crymych overcame League 1 West high-flyers Gowerton to reach round two of the WRU national Plate, but failed to repeat the feat when going down 26-20 to them at the Athletic Ground.

A fifth league defeat from six outings left the Preselimen third from bottom and in need of a win at Parc Lloyd Thomas this weekend when Dunvant come calling.

There was some consolation on Saturday when Rhys Davies and colleagues picked up a bonus point for being within seven points of their opponents.

Gowerton held on to second place behind Felinfoel after tries by Josh Hayward, Anthony Osborne and two from Phil Hartley, three of the scores converted by Lyn Simons saw off the visitors.

Crymych trailed 21-10 after the opening 40 minutes and came back strongly after the break with tries by centre Tomos Phillips and winger Tomos Lewis, both converted by centre Ifan Phillips who also landed two penalties.

Cardigan experienced few problems in springing a 47-7 League 3 West A win over a youthful Pembroke Dock Quins at Bierspool.

After right-winger Rhydian Jenkins got an early try for Cardigan the Quins went ahead through a Jake Griffiths try converted by Rhys Bradney.

But it was to be the home side's only taste of success as the Cardis moved up a gear and scored 42 points without reply.

The remainder of the points came from tries by Jenkins who got a second score, fullback Llyr Jones who also bagged a brace, scrum-half Gwern Phillips, hooker Will Bryce, left-winger William Delve and flanker Dafydd Rotie with fullback Jones landing two conversions.