Pembroke Dock Quins 3 pts.

Pembroke 36

Pembroke came to Bierspool on Saturday and pulled off a deserved bonus point win in front of a large crowd on a bright sunny day.

With both sides missing players, many did not really know what to expect, but it was soon obvious the Quins were in for a tough afternoon.

The visitors' scrum and lineout were functioning far better than the Quins, but it was the Quins who had the first opportunity after the visitors were caught offside, but outside-half Adi John failed with kick.

In the 15th minute, the visitors struck with a fine try by fullback Luke Dow, who held off a few would-be tacklers and sprinted down the left-hand touchline to score underneath the posts. For good measure, Dow converted the try himself to put the visitors 7-up.

Five minutes later, Pembroke struck again, this time through outstanding scrum-half Andrew Davies touching down, with Dow again adding the extras.

Next it was the Quins' turn to fall foul of the referee, up stepped Dow to send the ball between the uprights.

With Pembroke now 17-0 to the good and having more possession, things were looking bleak for the Quins.

John did put over a penalty to pull the score back to 17-3 and it was important for the hosts to get the next score, but sadly for the Quins it was the visitors who struck with two fine tries in the final five minutes of the half.

First flanker Steve Dyde forced his way over for an unconverted try and then left wing and captain Geraint Jackson crossed for the bonus point try to inflict more pain on the Quins.

Dow converted to send the visitors in 29-3 up at the break.

The second half was going to be a big test for the Quins and they responded superbly, with youngsters Joe Powell and Mike Davies and the experienced pair of Neil Harries and the outstanding Alex Pierce putting in a tremendous amount of work.

It was epitomised by a fine text-book tackle by fullback Sam Richards which would have had many a coach purring.

It was not until the 65th minute that the visitors managed their only score of the half with a fine try by centre Sean Dalling after a Quins attack had broken down.

Dow added the extras to end up with a personal haul of 16 points, which was an excellent start to the season for him.

Nobody could deny Pembroke their first win at Bierspool for many years, which more than made up for the disappointment of the corresponding fixture last season.

This weekend, both sides face stiff tests, with the Quins visiting Cefneithin and Pembroke home to improving Bynea.