ASDA League Division One round up

Wing Mark Harvey and centre Ben Jones both crossed twice as last year’s champions ran in nine tries against Athletic to jump three places into second place in the West.

But the win also went a long way to proving the Swansea club had shaken off the disappointment of missing out on promotion to the Premiership last season in a play-off and the loss of several key players and two coaches during the summer.

Skipper Darren Poland said: “Things were very disjointed at the club during the summer because of the Premiership clubs picking off some key players and it showed in a very poorly start to the season.

“But there was a lot of honest talking after the losing our first two games and since then everyone has responded really well. Everyone is working hard and things are starting to come back together again.

“We’ve set ourselves the target of finishing 2006 unbeaten which is a big ask but we’ve won five in a row now and confidence is growing.”
Bonymaen leapt above opponents Bridgend Athletic as well as Carmarthen Quins, who went down 26-21 to leaders Cwmllynfell despite a second-half fight-back, and Narberth who squeezed past Dunvant 19-13 thanks to scores from Lloyd Phillips, Matthew Davies and a penalty try.

Bargoed produced the performance of the day in the East with a workmanlike 23-16 win over fellow title contenders Beddau. Wing Lee Pearson raced onto a clearance kick by Jamie Howells to score the crucial try, Howells added five penalties and a drop goal gain revenge for the Mid Districts Cup Final defeat last season.

Coach David Lynch said: “On our way up the tables we enjoyed throwing the ball around but we had to prove our growing maturity against a big side like Beddau. We learned from our defeat in the final and executed a game plan to beat them. It showed how far this young team has come and we proved we can compete for the title.”

Jonny Wehbe grabbed a hat-trick as UWIC rattled up a comfortable 62-19 victory over Ystrad Rhondda who spent the last half an hour down to 14 men after replacement Nathan Hughes was sent off for stamping just two minutes after taking the field. Pat Foreman added two more scores in the nine-try rout.
Second-placed Newbridge remained in touch with a 40-26 win at Caerphilly while Pontypool ran in six past Abercynon, including two for centre Gavin Ferguson.