SPORT

ABERAVON continued their excellent start to the season in the Principality Premiership with a narrow victory over Carmarthen Quins at the Talbot Athletic Ground.

In what was a drab low-scoring contest and a game that, in truth, will not live too long in the memory, it was the West Walians who grabbed the only score of the first half and it came two minutes before the break.

The try was scored by wing Dylan Morgans although the conversion was missed by full-back Aled Thomas with the visitors taking a 5-0 lead into the interval.

That was the way it stayed until three minutes past the hour mark when a bit of magic saw the Wizards take the lead, as wing Steff Andrews finished off a move.

Andrews’ try was converted by James Garland to edge Jason Hyatt’s side 7-5 in front.

Garland then split the posts with a penalty on 71 minutes to give Aberavon a five-point lead and they held on register a sixth victory from the first seven matches.

The Quins, meanwhile, had to make do with a losing bonus point and this was their third defeat from the opening seven matches having also picked up four wins. ABERAVON – Try: S Andrews; Con: J Garland; Pen: J Garland. QUINS – Try: D Morgans. BARGOED, with wind and sweeping rain on their backs in the second half, controlled the conditions well to earn a valuable bonus-point win against Llanelli.

It took just two minutes for Llanelli to register the opening try when Nathan Hart was sent over in the corner. Ashley Sutton converted, but missed a chance to take his side 10-0 up a few minutes later when his mid-range penalty drifted wide.

Bargoed struck back on 15 minutes after Barney Nightingale picked up Josh Prosser’s chip to ground in the corner. Prosser missed the conversion.

With 12 minutes to go in the first half, the home side were temporarily reduced to 14 men after Ashley Norton saw yellow for deliberate knock-on, but Llanelli were only able to increase their lead to 10-5 thanks to a Sutton penalty.

That was cancelled out just before the break as Prosser’s successful kick addressed the balance.

Just 90 seconds into the second half, Bargoed took the lead for the first time thanks to an unconverted Ashley Gibson try in the corner.

A penalty try six minutes later increased their advantage to 20-10 before a Rhys Buckley try in the corner, which was converted well by Prosser, earned them the bonus point.

A flurry of replacements from Bargoed on 65 minutes slowed their pace down a bit, but they’d done enough to secure maximum points. BARGOED – Tries: B Nightingale, A Gibson, Penalty try, R Buckley; Con: J Prosser; Pen: J Prosser LLANELLI – Try: N Hart; Con: A Sutton; Pen: A Sutton