Dowlais out of the danger zone but work to do

Welsh Division One round-up

SION Martin was the hero for Dowlais in One East as he single-handedly boosted their survival chances with victory over basement boys Hartridge.

Martin bagged all of the points in the 13-5 win – try, conversion and two penalties – that saw them move out of the bottom two. But with up to three clubs in danger of relegation there is still some work to do.

Ynysybwl also picked up a crucial victory, beating Blaenavon 26-21, to move out of the relegation zone. In One East Central, Rhiwbina missed the chance to close the gap on leaders Glamorgan Wanderers to just five points as they slipped to a 21-15 defeat to Gilfach Goch.

Rhys Morgans and Oliver Golden both went over, with Lewis Pearce adding a conversion and a penalty but it wasn’t enough to halt Gilfach’s revival.

Ricky Williams, Matthew Rutter and Adam Fry were all on the scoresheet as Gilfach made it three wins in three in the league with Connor Davies adding the rest with his boot. However, Rhiwbina have three games in hand and only trail the Wanderers by nine points.

It remains congested in One North with Llandudno, Pwllheli and Ruthin all securing victories. Llandudno saw off Bro

Ffestiniog to stay at the summit – and they even opened up a two-point lead over second-placed Pwllheli, who beat Llangefni 20-7.

Ruthin moved up to third after edging past Caernarfon 25-10 but reigning champions Nant Conwy lost ground as they were held 10-10 at Bethesda.

The battle at the bottom went the way of Aberavon Quins in One West Central. The Quins managed to beat bottom club Waunarlwydd 20-5 with Liam Oates and Nathan Flynn both touching down. Marcus Besley bagged a consolation try for Waunarlwydd. In One West Central

Felinfoel suffered their third league defeat of the season, 24-14 at Whitland, but they maintained their 15-point lead as Gowerton lost 32-19 to third-placed Llangennech.