Grady bags a treble as Cardiff see off Drovers

MASON Grady helped himself to a stunning hat-trick of tries as Cardiff ran in a magnificent seven to beat Llandovery 41-21 at Church Bank.

Led superbly by No 8 Morgan Allen, the Blue & Blacks stayed in touch at the top of the Indigo Group Premiership with unbeaten leaders Newport as they took all five points.

Llandovery took a 15th minute lead when centre Rhodri Jones cut a great angle to send hooker Craig Thomas steaming over. James Garland converted but from there on it was Cardiff who dominated in all areas.

The all-action Grady closed the gap with a great solo run from half-way, outstripping all pursuers on his way to the line and when Llandovery lost a scrum near their line, it gave Max Llewellyn the room to slip through under the posts, fly half Luke Scully converting for a 12-7 interval lead.

Once hooker Alun Rees crossed early in the second half, the result was a foregone conclusion. A brace of tries from Grady and others from replacement Sean Moore and skipper Allen hit Llandovery hard.

Wing Tomi Lewis had grabbed a couple of opportunist tries converted for the home side, but it was too little, too late.

Aberavon gained their fifth win of the campaign to keep themselves very much in the hunt for a top four finish as they thumped the Steelmen 33-14. Back row man Ashton Evans got the home side off to a flyer with a try after five minutes. The conversion was missed, but the Wizards were already in charge.

Centre Chay Smith was next over the Ebbw Vale line as he ran in a try that this time Aled Thomas converted to make it 12-0. Smith was on the scoresheet again 10 minutes later when he grabbed his second try of the afternoon.

Aled Thomas made it 19-0 with the conversion, although Ebbw Vale hit back with a try of their own from Ethan Doyle, converted by Evan Lloyd.

A penalty try to the home side made it 26-7 at the break.

It was one try apiece in the second half.

Pontypridd withstood a ferocious late comeback from Llanelli at Sardis Road to move up to fifth in the Premiership table thanks to a 19-13.

Justin Burnell’s side were cruising at 13-0 with half an hour to go, but Llanelli fought back, and came close to claiming a significant victory.

But an outstanding defensive set from Pontypridd on their own try line kept the west Walians at bay to secure all four points for the home side.