DROVERS PACK LAYS PLATFORM FOR DERBY WIN
CARMARTHEN QUINS..10 LLANDOVERY ................. 21
LLANDOVERY took the West Wales bragging rights after a comfortable 21-10 victory at Carmarthen Quins.
Euros Evans’s side were excellent, with their pack dominating physically.
The Drovers started slowly but once they took the lead they always looked the more fluent and confident side.
The home side took the lead when poor tackling behind the scrum let in centre Eddie James for a try, converted by fly-half Josh Batcup.
But out of the blue a set move from a lineout gave Llandovery flanker Stuart Worrall the chance to feed Rhodri Jones on an angled burst. The centre sliced through the home defence to make fly-half James Garland’s conversion a formality.
The Drovers had their tails up and patient approach work sent prop Harri O’connor in for a try, converted by Garland.
A yellow card for hooker Dafydd Hughes stopped Llandovery’s momentum and a Batcup penalty left the Quins just four points adrift at the break.
Batcup missed a penalty at one end, only for Llandovery to score at the other after some breathtaking continuity allowed Garland to score.
A yellow card for Rees made life difficult for the Drovers, but then Quins replacement Nic Cudd followed him into the sin-bin.
“We went into the game second favourites after losing a friendly to the Quins, but I thought the boys were outstanding,” said Llandovery head coach Evans.
“Local derbies against the Quins are ferocious affairs, we sucked up early pressure and then played really well, not only in attack but in forcing Quins into errors when they had the ball.”