RUGBY ROUND-UP

Newcastle Emlyn ensured they would be on top of the tree in League 1 West at Christmas after pulling out the stops in springing a 22-16 win over a full-of-fight Gorseinon outfit .

Results elsewhere also went the way of the Teifisiders as unbeaten leaders Felinfoel crashed 23-17 at Hendy – Emlyn defeated both away from home earlier in the season.

The Red and Whites completed a double over the Swansea side having defeated them on their own stamping ground in September.

Impressive outside half Liam Popham landed an early penalty to give Gorseinon the lead and doubled the advantage with a second midway through the half.

Although shading matters territorially, the visitors were hit when a wayward pass allowed Emlyn scrum-half Dafydd Evans, who was superb at the base of the scrum, to intercept and sprint 50 yards for a try converted by winger Dan Davies.

Popham landed his third penalty to regain the lead for the visitors who rode their luck on occasions and were thankful for the homesters making a number of unforced errors.

The Red and Whites got supporters on their feet at the start of the second period with a try that had quality written all over it.

Centre Andrew Owens was the catalyst for the score that saw No 8 Brynmor Jones sprinting clear for a try converted by Davies.

Kicker Davies landed a penalty and the same player went over for his side’s third try wide out.

Refusing to throw in the towel the visitors crossed for a late try by centre Luke Cross converted by Popham to give them a losing bonus point.

Challenging Emlyn for the title are Llangennech who sent Crymych a step closer to the drop with a 24-10 win at Llangennech Park.

The Carmarthenshire villagers controlled matters for most of the contest and led 10-3 after the opening 40 minutes.

The points came from tries by winger Tom Davies and fullback Tom Neale while the visitors’ outside half Ifan Phillips landed a penalty.

It looked over bar the shouting at the start of the second period when scrum-half Gareth George ran in for a try converted by Neale, but Crymych responded when winger Laurence Headlam finished off a threequarter move and Phillips added the extras.

Crymych’s hopes of pulling off a win all but disappeared when No. 8 Osian Davies was dismissed for an alleged high tackle and Rhys Davies followed soon afterwards, leaving the visitors with 13 players.

Making their numerical advantage pay dividends Llangennech wrapped up victory with a try by No. 8 Jordan Saunders converted by Neale.

Cardigan avenged an opening day League 3 West A defeat at Llangwm with a 17-0 win over the Wasps in a scrappy affair at King George V Playing Field.

No. 8 and skipper Tom Taylor crossed for a first half try converted by outside half Iwan John.

The same tempo continued after the break with Cardigan in control and it was no surprise when they added a further two scores through Taylor and winger Cerith Griffiths.