Pembroke Dock Quins 8 pts.

St. Clears 26

In the end, the Saints got what they came for, a bonus point win which keeps them in the frame for promotion,but all credit to the Quins, who pushed them all the way.

It was the Quins who were out of the blocks first when after just 10 minutes outside-half Ben Hathaway put over a fine 30 -yard penalty after the visitors were caught offside,

The Quins at this stage seemed to be carrying on from their 7-0 victory over another promotion hopeful, Pembroke, and seemed determined to add another scalp.

On 15 minutes, the Quins struck again when flanker Sam James picked off a loose Saints pass and galloped 40 yards down the touchline to just about outflank the cover to touchdown wide out.

Hathaway missed the difficult conversion, and soon after the visitors started to get into their stride, forcing two penalties in the Quins’ 25, which they surprisingly spurned, going for attacking lineouts instead, but to the Quins’ credit, they picked the visitors off on both occasions and cleared their lines.

With 10 minutes to go before half-time, the Saints struck when right wing Jon Gosling finished off a sweeping move with a fine try in the corner.

Geraint Jones missed the conversion, and the Quins went in at half-time with an 8-6 lead, feeling pretty confident for the second half.

The visitors were the first to make a statement after the restart when centre Mike Georgiou touched down with the half just a few minutes old.

Jones missed the conversion, but a few minutes later the Saints were awarded a penalty in front of the posts and this time they took the three points through the boot of Jones.

The Quins, now trailing 8-13, had it all to do, but again another indiscretion cost them, and once again the Saints took the three points on offer through Jones.

In the 55th minute, Gosling grabbed his second try, which went unconverted, and the game now at 8-21 was all about bonus points.

The Quins once again stepped up, ably led by the talismanic Dean Wilcox, who was playing out of position in the second row, and the inventive scrum-half and Quins ‘man of the match’ Jake Griffiths.

The hosts tried everything to force a score, but sadly for them it was the Saints who grabbed a try bonus point with the last move of the match to keep the pressure on leaders Milford Haven.

Quins team: Aaron Cookson, Luke Phillips, Gareth Clark, Thomas Doyle (capt), Jason Keights, Ben Hathaway, Jake Griffiths, Stefan Halward, Sam James, Neil Brace, Mark Van Rhyn, Dean Wilcox, Rob Hearn, Josh Boswell, Jack Davies. Replacements (all used) - Nathan Abrahams, James Gardener and Martin Culley.