Penygroes 23 pts.

Pembroke Dock Quins 21

The Quins came away from Penygroes on Saturday with a losing bonus point to show for their efforts, and lost for the ninth time on the road this season, despite outscoring their hosts by three tries to two.

The Quins could not have asked for a better start, when with just two minutes on the clock, flanker Zac Miller burst away from the side of a rolling maul after Joe Powell had won the lineout to touch down halfway out.

Centre and captain Barry Parsons converted with a fine kick.

The Quins were given an early warning of the kicking ability of the host's outside-half Chris Powell when he pushed two penalties just wide of the uprights in the space of five minutes.

The Quins' scrum in the early stages was going well and with some fine ball-carrying from the forwards things were looking up.

The visitors were unlucky not to score a second try on 20 minutes when they were pulled back for a forward pass with the line at their mercy.

Five minutes later, the home side struck when a fine line kick by Chris Powell put his side in a favourable position, and from the lineout came a carbon copy of the Quins' try when flanker Matthew Evans scored in the corne. Powell converted with a fine kick considering the conditions underfoot.

The Quins hit back five minutes later when Powell broke down the blindside 40 yards out, kicked ahead and easily won the race for the touchdown.

Barry Parsons added the extras to push the Quins lead out to 14-7.

As the half drew to a close, Chris Powell punished the Quins after they were caught offside, with a well-struck penalty to end the scoring in the first half.

At the start of the second half, the home side brought on three replacements, especially as their scrum was under pressure, and it worked, as within five minutes of the half starting, Powell put over his second Penalty to haul his side back to 14-13.

Penygroes now had their tails up and it was not long before they were camped on the Quins' line, and from a five-yard scrum, the home side put in a huge effort, and flanker Stewart Rees scored wide out.

Powell converted with another fine kick to put his side into the lead for the first time.

The Quins were now up against it, with the hosts replacements making a difference and some superb tactical kicking from Powell, but it was the Quins who struck next when, out of the blue, Joe Powell burst away from the side of a ruck and raced in from 40 yards to touch down underneath the posts.

Parsons popped over the conversion to maintain his 100 per cent success rate with the boot.

With the best part of 20 minutes to go, with the weather deteriorating and a slender lead, the Quins had it all to play for.

Penygroes were now dominating proceedings, but the Quins were defending bravely as the pressure mounted. Then, just eight minutes from time, they were caught offside at a ruck, virtually in front of the posts; up stepped Powell and he slotted the penalty with ease to end the scoring and give his side a narrow 23-21 victory.