A bad week for Neath RFC ended badly with this heavy home defeat by table-topping Llandovery who were good value for their win at The Gnoll.

 It rained in torrents throughout and, as one wag suggested, “I wouldn’t send a dog out on a day like this, let alone the EDC panel !”

 Nevertheless, encouraged by referee Mr. Dewi Phillips, the two teams showed a willingness to handle the ball although the incessant heavy rain meant that it was a day when possession was sometimes a disadvantage.

In such a deluge, the most effective tactic is to kick to the corner for a line-out and let the forwards take over – and in this respect, Llandovery are the undoubted masters.

 Former Scarlets and Dragons hooker Tailor Davies had a field day as the main beneficiary of this aspect and he crossed for four tries and his replacement Craig Thomas got one too.

 The other Llandovery tries came from scrum-half Dafydd Land who darted through an alarming gap in the Neath defence and from his replacement Lee Rees.

 Outside-half Jack Maynard was in grand kicking form and was successful with six conversions out of seven.

Neath’s response was a splendid first-half try – as good as any on the day – by skipper Ryan Evans which was converted by outside-half Steff Williams who also kicked a penalty to move him on to 99 points for the season.

 It was 10-26 at half-time but Llandovery had the wind in the second-half and, bravely as Neath defended for long periods, the outcome was inevitable.

NEATH – A.Bramwell (K.Charles); S.Gibson, R.Evans (capt), K.Jones, R.Griffiths; S.Williams (S.Wilcox), G.Williams (E.Lewis); J.Powell (M.Morgan), S.Crocker (C.Morris), E.Hopkins (G.W.Lloyd); M.Davies, C.Arnold (F.Kneath); J.Blackmore, M.Kneath, B.Williams (D.Ceredig)

LLANDOVERY – J.Maynard; J.Davies, I.Phillips, R.Jones, K.Abraham; I.Hughes, D.Land; D.Dalavalle, T.Davies, B.Davies; C.Long, M.Jones; J.Powell (capt), N.Hart, J.Evans Replacements – H.Doel, A.Warren, L.Rees, J.Hughes, C.Thomas, L.Green, O.Davies, S.Worrall

Referee – Mr. D.Phillips (Aberystwyth)

Images courtesy of Len Kowalski www.lensworkphotography.co.uk