Pembrokeshire Knockout Cup Quarter Finals 
 
Cup Competition:

 
 

Williamson’s score settles it as Blues and Saints light up the KO Cup

 

St Davids 20 - Haverfordwest 24

 
It was a pulsating Friday night cup tie at St Davids with a second half try from Dylan Williamson proving decisive as Haverfordwest moved into the semi-finals of the Pembs KO Cup.
 
On the night the Saints officially unveiled their new floodlights, a sizeable crowd saw the home side come out firing as they took an early 10-0 lead, but it was the visitors that eventually prevailed 24-20 in a game that yielded five tries and four yellow cards.  
 

Frenetic start as Saints score early

 
The clash was frenetic from the off and it took just three minutes for the first score to arrive, home centre Morgan Griffiths cutting back inside and powerfully charging for the line - and although he was hauled down short, some quick handling saw full back Iwan Davies dive over out wide. Bob Froy converted.
 
Moments later, Froy added a penalty and the early momentum was with the hosts, with hooker Rhys Price taking two scrums against the head and No.8 George Raymond making inroads with ball in hand.
 

Blues battle back

 
But then the Blues responded as winger Scott Candler made ground down the left-hand side, setting up the platform for full-back Matty Phillips to crash over from short range. Jack Codd converted, although the No.10 was then wide with a penalty while Froy added three more points for St Davids. 
 
The frenetic scoring continued as Codd’s chip was charged down on half-way, but fell into the hands of centre Iestyn Arnold who broke through in midfield before putting Candler away to score, and the conversion gave the away side the lead for the first time.
 
It lasted barely a minute though as from the restart, Williamson knocked on and from the scrum that followed, prop Adam Williams went close before it was Davies again who cut over near the corner flag. Froy again converted but was then off target with a penalty after Town flanker Jamie Phillips was sin-binned after both sides had been warned over their penalty count by referee Dan Tomkins.
 
Then on the stroke of half-time a break from scrum half Ioan Hawkridge-Jones set up a penalty chance which Codd nailed from 35 metres out, meaning a frantic 40 minutes ended with St Davids 20-17 up.
 

Scoring slows – but intensity increases after the break

 
The scoring rate didn’t continue in the second half but the intensity did, with Froy missing another penalty chance before Haverfordwest centre Gabe Thicker was given 10 minutes off for a high tackle. Seconds later it was St Davids replacement hooker Chris Cooper in the bin, carded following a melee between both sets of players.
 
And on the hour mark came the decisive moment as Arnold cut through 40 metres out and popped a scoring pass to the supporting Williamson, one of the outstanding players over the 80 minutes. Codd converted and with the Haverfordwest front-row replacements Terry Lovell and Dan Berry appearing to make the difference at the set-piece, it was the visitors who controlled the possession and territory late on.
 

Blues hold out in a busy finale

 
Saints skipper Nathan Foster saw yellow in the dying seconds as frustrations boiled over and with the hosts forced to try and attack from deep, the Blues saw out the closing minutes to the relief of head coach Simon Lepetit.
 
“St Davids brought it to us,” he said afterwards. “Obviously it was a big night for them under the lights and everything and they did well and we were lucky to scrape through it if I’m honest. Our basics were poor first half, but we brought a fresh front row on second half which really did make a difference.”
 
Haverfordwest will now wait for the semi-final draw, and lie just won one win away from a first KO Cup final since 2015. St Davids meanwhile, will take solace from the way they matched a side a league above them, but a wait for a first ever league or cup win over the Blues goes on.
 
 
St Davids: Iwan Davies, Harvey Lavin, Morgan Griffiths, Will Savage, Bob Froy, Owen Swain, Zak Morgan, Ethan Griffiths, Rhys Price, Adam Williams, Iestyn Owen, James Goldsmith, Aaron Foster, Nathan Foster, George Raymond. Replacements: Chris Cooper, Ben Evans, Dan Murphy, Noak Darh, Michael Gurney, Morgan Davies, Rhys Symons.
 
 
Haverfordwest: Matty Phillips, Liam Gainfort, Gabe Thicker, Iestyn Arnold, Scott Candler, Jack Codd, Ioan Hawkridge-Jones, Jamie Zambas, Ieuan Bevan, Andrew Edwards, Teifion Owen, Karl Busch (Capt), Dylan Williamson, Jamie Phillips, Mike Griffiths.  Replacements: Terry Lovell, Dan Berry, Kiran Mason, Ben Llewellyn, Paul Dungey, Gethin Bateman.
 
 

Plate Competition:

 

Crymych 14 - Cardigan 28

 
This match as played earlier in the month and so missed the awful conditions, and it was Cardigan who came away from Parc Lloyd Thomas with victory as they overcame the strong challenge of a Bulls’ team which plays in a section lower but were no respecters of reputations as they battled hard throughout.
 
Cardigan travelled with a strong squad but without ace kicker  Shaun Leonard – but were fortunate to have Llyr Jones playing and showing what an able points gatherer he is as he converted all four of The Teifisiders’ tries – and claimed a personal haul of 13 points as he also grabbed their first try as a bonus!
 
The other Cardigan try scorers were wingers Jack Taylor and Iwan John, as The Cardies used good ball retention up front to spread play wide, plus veteran No 8 Colin Davies as he again showed he is still a force to be reckoned with as he ploughed over from close range.
 
The Bulls were well led by Matthew Freebury and Elgan Wilson had a good game at outside half as he tried to call the shots, also adding the conversions to tries by Tomos Davies and Steffan Rees.
 
 

Other Matches due to played:
 
KO Cup Competition:
 
Fishguard & Goodwick P-P Tenby
Match postponed - weather

Fishguard & Goodwick: Dan Evans; Dom Sinnott; Mark Jones; Dan Cleary; Rhys Evans: Jake Jenkins; Max Jones: Will Delaney; Liam Wilkes; Iwan McVeigh: Griff Williams; Cai Llewellyn: Rhys Lewis; Sion Colella (Capt); Jac Delaney. Replacements: Ryan McVeigh; Simon James; Bryn Thomas; Will Lewis; Ed Bendall.

Tenby United: Will James: Matthew Lewis; Gwion Jones; Tom Edmonds; Jordan Asparassa: Lloyd Thomas; Fletcher Broadhurst: Ethan Morgan; Kyle Rossiter; James Morgan: Alex Jenkins; Tom Barrass (Capt): Jack Brown; Dan Colley; Dom Colman. Replacements: Rob Clark; Hywel Baker; Charlie Patching; Jack Broadhurst; Dai Jones; Tom Lewis; Darcy Langston
 
 
 

Narberth Athletic P-P Aberystwyth
Match postponed - Weather
 

Narberth Athletic: From: (Backs) - Shane Rossiter: Alex Coaker; Luke Conbeer; Will Davies; Iestyn Doble; Shay Norcross; Archie Vallance; Andrew Williams; Jordan James; Jake Philpin; Huw Evans; Rhydian Jones. (Forwards): Declan Cole; Rhys Jenkins; Gethin Thomas; Jac Norcross; Ieuan Barnes; Gareth Clifford; Tom Parsells; Henry Foster; Wil Nicholas; Ryan Cole; Steve Thomas, Yori Morgan; Harry Harries.
 
 
 

Whitland P-P Aberaeron
Match postponed - weather
 

 

Milford Haven P-P Neyland
Match postponed - Weather

 
Milford Haven:

Neyland: Liam Rees: Josh Watts; Matthew Coles; George Williams (Capt); Tal Tamilia: Oli Rothero; Owen Hamer: Luke Griffiths-Dawes; Seb Mackintosh; Mark James: Andrew Slark; George Evans: Dan Hart; Owen Evans; Iestyn Evans. Replacements: Lewis Hallett; Ieuan Hadley; Delme Bateman; Nick Wilson.
 

Pembroke P-P Pembroke Dock Harlequins
Match postponed - Weather

 
Pembroke: Lewis Davies: Zach Evans; Fraser James; Jack Nicholas; Barry Alderman-John: Jared Sherratt; Josh Greenwood: Lloyd Davies Capt); Dan Gosnold; Jamie Brayford: Cyle Weatherall; William Edwards: Dai Rogers; Rhydian Eynon; Robin Badham. Replacements: Sam Smith; Deryn Williams; Kieran Cookson; Scott Powell, Ethan Brown; Jack Oliver; James Allen.

Pembroke Dock Quins: Ben Hathaway (Capt): Damien Miller; Craig Barnett; Jack Price; Tom Donovan: Euan McDonald; Ollie Lewis: Dan McLeod; Jordan Palmer; Tommy Clarkson: Lewys Scourfield; Michael van Rhyn; Harry Owen; Danny Wilkes; Taylor Rees. Replacements:  Rhys Doyle; Jack Davies; Tom Wheeler; Josh Brown; Alfie Ball; Ryan Nelson; Johnny Nicot; Callum Jones; Owain Turner.
 
Bye: Llangwm