If it had been a stroll in Carmarthen Park for the champions when the two sides met for the first time this season on the opening weekend, with the Drovers winning 54-31, this time there was no try-fest as the home side were held to three tries.
To their huge credit the Quins defended with immense gusto from first to last and kept their line intact in a hectic opening quarter. The stalemate was finally broken when ex-London Irish lock Ed Scragg smashed his way over.
The Drovers soon added another through wing Aaron Warren to make it just 12-0 at the break. Soon after outside half Ioan Hughes added a penalty to his earlier conversion to stretch the home advantage to 15 points.
The Quins kept on tackling to stifle home adventure until a close-range line out worked in hooker Taylor Davies’ favour and he plunged over for Llandovery’s third try.
Bridgend slumped to back-to-back home defeats as they were beaten 20-12 by Swansea at the Brewery Field. The Ravens never really recovered from a first half performance that saw them slip to a 20-0 deficit.
A Rhys Jones penalty after four minutes and then a try by Owen Thomas in the 18th gave Swansea a flying start. Jones added the extras to the try and then put over a penalty to make it 13-0 moving into the second quarter.
A near perfect first half for the Whites ended with a try from centre Joe Thomas that Jones improved just before the break. As hard as they tried, the home side simply couldn’t bridge the gap despite tries from Gareth Harvey and Zac O’Driscoll in the second half, the latter converted by Rhys Williams.
Ebbw Vale ensured they stayed in second place, and moved a point closer to league leaders Llandovery, thanks to a 50-31 home win over Merthyr. There were 81 points and 12 tries in a pre-Christmas cracker at Eugene Cross Park.
Fullback Morgan Richards and centre Ethan Phillips both crossed for try hat-tricks for The Steelmen, while No 8 Alex Howes grabbed the other one. Outside half Evan Lloyd kicked 15 points with six conversions and a penalty.
Merthyr refused to be blown away even though Paddy McBride’s men found themselves trailing 50-12 at one point. They conjured up three second half tries to at least leave with a try bonus-point.
Pontypridd were down to 13 men from the 23rd minute of their televised derby with Cardiff at the Arms Park after firstly centre Ryan Wilkins saw red for a head-on-head contact and then hooker Curtis Greenslade was sent off for an aerial challenge on Dewi Cross that saw the home winger take a dangerous tumble.
Cardiff led 8-6 at the break thanks to a try from lock Ethan Phillips. Jacob Lloyd, Harrison James and Luke Pollock added second half tries to secure the bonus-point at the death for the Blue & Blacks as they ran out winners by 32-13, despite a defiant score from Ponty No 8 Joe Miles.
