WILLIAMS COLLECTS HIS TREBLE CHANCE
HOOKER Rhys Williams grabbed a hat-trick of tries as Merthyr chalked up an expected and comfortable bonus-point victory over struggling Neath at The Wern.
After a stuttering first-half performance, when they only led 12-5 at half time, Craig Locke and his men pulled clear, although to their credit the visitors never gave up the fight.
Scrum-half Adam Hoskins opened the scoring for Merthyr with a 16thminute try, while Williams crashed over for a touchdown before the interval and 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 Matthew Jarvis was in splendid form with the boot kicking six superb conversions from the touchline.
Despite all their efforts, Neath could manage just one unconverted try – wing Matthew Billet bursting over the line in the 19th minute.
Basement club Neath had won just one of their 18 league matches and that was the 30-12 home victory over fellow strugglers Bargoed on November 16.
The Ironmen, chasing a second league and cup double in succession, had beaten Neath 34-6 when the sides last met at The Gnoll in October.
After spending the first 12 minutes pinned in their own half, Neath came close to scoring when centre Keiran Williams made a sharp midfield break and kicked ahead to the home line. Jarvis had to push the ball over the line before touching down and conceding the scrum five. But the visitors threw away the opportunity by conceding a penalty.
Merthyr made them pay by going 5-0 ahead a few minutes later when scrum-half Hoskins exploited a strong home scrum to grab a pushover try. Jarvis was unlucky with his wide-angled conversion attempt, seeing the ball hit an upright.
The plucky visitors stormed back when wing Billet charged over for an unconverted corner try to level the scores, but Merthyr converted their territorial advantage into more points thanks to a corner try by hooker Williams which Jarvis converted 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 centre Williams and then prop Ben Uphill.
The Ironmen then contrived to squander a string of scoring chances because of suspect handling and failing to move the ball out wide when Neath were clearly struggling to plug all the gaps that were appearing.
The score remained 12-5 at the interval, but Merthyr stepped on the gas in the second half adding a further five tries.