DIVISION Three West A leaders Neyland eventually clinched the honours with a 20-25 win in a very entertaining game, but the outcome was in the balance until the dying minutes.

The Pembrokeshire All Blacks deserved to edge this one, as they were the better team overall and their greater fitness levels in the final quarter proved to be a telling factor as Cardigan defended for long periods and eventually ran out of steam.

The hosts could not have wished for a better start, however, with a super try in the opening minutes, and they could well have been out of sight before the break.

Skipper and full back John Lumb crossed for a fantastic individual score after only three minutes when he fielded an up and under near to his own posts and then weaved his way inside and outside several players before touching down.

A second try looked on just a few minutes later when left winger Dan Purnell broke the initial tackle and sprinted for the line, but his dive was just inches short.

Cardigan though added to their score on 20 minutes when powerful No 8 Colin Davies picked up from the base of a scrum going forward and dived over.

Neyland hit back and piled on the pressure, and they were eventually rewarded when Gavin Campbell sneaked over after good work by his colleagues in the pack.

Cardigan responded when they added three more points, with a penalty from fly half Iwan John, but Neyland kept their composure and crossed for a second try when winger Delme Bateman took advantage of some very sloppy defending to dive over in the corner to make it 13-10.

The visitors got stronger as the game progressed and spent most of the second half camped deep in Cardigan territory, and they kicked intelligently into the corners and kept the home side pegged back.

A third try eventually followed when winger Henry Macbeth put his team 15-13 up after the home team were turned over at a scrum close to their own line.

Another defensive lapse cost Cardigan a fourth try soon afterwards when from a breakaway from half way and a chip ahead the ball was allowed to bounce and scrum half George Evans touched down.

Cardigan dusted themselves down and hit back with an interception try by Llyr Jones, and the conversion from John set up a tense final few minutes with the score at 20-22 in favour of the visitors.

A late penalty from full back Patrick Bellerby, however, made amends for several attempts that he had missed earlier in the game, to put his team 25-20 ahead and sealed a very well-deserved success.

LLANGWM 3 ABERAERON 47

ABERAERON made the long trip to Llangwm looking to maintain their recent good run, and their seven try salvo ensured that the result was never in doubt.

The hosts may be languishing in the league standings, but their vociferous support is always likely to lift their team.

On the day, however, this had very little effect as Aberaeron dominated the first half and scored tries at regular intervals, with a near perfect kicking display from accurate outside half Rhodri Jenkins.

It was Llangwm however who registered the first points with a penalty by Luke Freeman in the first few minutes.

That soon became a false dawn as from the restart strong running centre Tom Slinger registered the first try, and this was followed minutes later when neat play along the backline allowed wing Rhodri Thomas to cross the try line.

Jenkins duly converted in what was the first of six successes for the afternoon.

Several phases of play resulted in the third try, with hooker Sion Evans enjoying an early wedding present, and at this stage Llangwm had little response in the forward battle and to the visitors’ backs.

Midway through the half, Morgan Llewelyn scythed through the defence from his own 22 for his first of the campaign, and not to be outdone Slinger found the same route for his second score.

Into injury time, scrum half Dafydd Llewelyn found a huge gap in the home defence for his third of the campaign.

The second half was more evenly balanced as the introduction of a few replacements reinforced the home defence and the scoreline remained the same until well into the latter stages of the game.

Finally Slinger was to benefit from several phases of pressure with his third try, to score his fourth try for the season.

The bonus point success keeps Aberaeron on the heels of the front runners in Division Three West A, and a boost for the cup encounter at Lampeter on Saturday.

PEMBROKE DOCK QUINS 24 LLANYBYDDER 48

LLANYBYDDER travelled to the Quins’ Bierspool ground looking to regroup after the previous week’s defeat at Neyland, and registered a convincing win.

The home side have had a difficult start to the season, having lost a number of players to other clubs, but they showed great effort and commitment throughout the match, trying to play at a high tempo.

The visitors, however, had a bit more organisation, and took an early lead when fly-half Llyr Tobias spotted a gap in midfield to cross over for the first try.

It was an eventful first half for visiting full-back Dan Garside, after an early yellow card for a high tackle. Garside returned to the pitch to run in two long range tries as he supported his back-line.

There was a further try for centre Steff Richards as he re-gathered his chip over the on-rushing home defence to score. Richards converted all four of these tries.

The Quins replied with a try for full-back Rhys Bradney and lock Josh White, both converted by Bradney to give a half-time score of 28014 to the visitors.

The open rugby continued in the second period, with the home side claiming two more tries through lock Ben Gibby and prop Dean Wilcox. However, Llanybydder maintained their lead through two penalties from Richards, and further tries from scrum-half Llyr James from a quick tap penalty, and No 8 Bleddyn Jones as he supported a backs move.

There were two more conversions from Steff Richards to give him a personal tally of 23 points, as the visitors won 48-24, with both teams claiming a bonus point.

This weekend, Llanybydder will travel to Llanelli to play New Dock Stars in the national WRU Swalec Bowl competition.