EVANS’S RELIEF AT CRUCIAL WIN
LLANDOVERY put some daylight between themselves and the bottom of the table with a hard-fought home win over Pontypridd. Tries from Ed Kennedy and Dafydd Hughes, along with eight points from the boot of Jack Maynard, secured the spoils for the Drovers.
“Our forwards were excellent today, particularly in the second half, playing into the very difficult conditions,” said head coach Euros Evans.
“Ponty had done well to control a lot of territory against the wind in the first half but we took over after the break, playing in the right areas and doing enough to claim an important win.”
A wind-assisted Drovers side edged a scrappy first half, largely indebted to the accuracy of pivot Maynard, who kicked two penalties before converting Scarlets Academy back-rower Kennedy’s try following concerted home pressure.
The contest overall had been a real dogfight, with both defences going at each other in earnest and play littered with errors and turnovers.
Ponty, in the meantime, had claimed a score through scrum-half Jamie Hill, who sniped over from the base of a five-metre scrum. His try went unconverted as Llandovery took a deserved 13-5 advantage into the break.
It was all about game management for the Drovers as they turned around to face the wind and rain driving up the Towy Valley.
But this they accomplished to great effect, with their pack, ably led in tight and loose by lock and captain Jack Jones, putting the contest in a stranglehold.
The home pack were keeping the ball tight and pounding the gain line, eventually claiming a crucial score as hooker Hughes burrowed over from a line-out drive.
Ponty could only respond with a long-range penalty kicked by outside-half Diggy Bird before a late surge by the visitors, based on a series of five-metre scrums, was held out by a grafting Llandovery defence.
Drovers captain Jones said: “We could think ourselves lucky to go in at the interval in the lead, but we produced a great reaction in the second half and showed a lot of character to hold out to win the game.
“Playing into the elements was tough going, but we controlled the game well and showed good discipline not to give points away.”
LLANDOVERY: Tries: E Kennedy; D Hughes. Con: J Maynard. Pens: J Maynard (2).
PONTYPRIDD:
Bird.
Try: J Hill. Pen: D