Williams hat-trick as Ironmen stay on track for title

HOOKER Rhys Williams grabbed a hat-trick as Merthyr chalked up an expected comfortable bonus-point victory over struggling Neath at The Wern.

Merthyr went ahead when scrum-half Adam Hoskins exploited a strong home scrum to grab a pushover try in the 16th minute. Matthew Jarvis was unlucky with his wideangled conversion attempt, seeing the ball hit an upright.

The plucky visitors stormed back when wing Matthew Billet charged over for an unconverted corner try to level the scores in the 19th minute but Merthyr converted their territorial advantage into more points thanks to a corner try by Williams which Jarvis converted with a splendid 35-metre kick from the touchline.

Beleaguered Neath were dealt a further hammer blow in the final minutes of the first half when they lost two players to the sin-bin for persistent infringements near their line – first powerful centre Keiran Williams and then prop Ben Uphill.

The score remained 12-5 at the interval but Merthyr stepped on the gas in the second half adding a further five tries.

Williams crashed over for two more in the third quarter while wing Tom James skipped over for a 59th-minute try and replacement Jay Baker snapped up another two in the closing minutes.

Full-back Jarvis excelled kicking six conversions. Star man Matthew Jarvis - Merthyr