A 35-14 home win over Llanelli not only got them back on the horse after falling to their first defeat of the season at Sardis Road, but also laid down a marker before the two teams meet again at the end of the month in the quarter-finals of the Specsavers National Cup.
“It’s only going to get harder for us because everyone wants to beat the side that is at the top of the table. I thought we were more clinical with the ball against Llanelli and played in better areas,” said Law.
The home side bagged another bonus-point thanks to a five try haul – Ioan Davies, Max Llewellyn, Jason Harries, Evans Yardley and Morgan Allen all touching down – while the visitors could only muster two in return, from Tom Rogers and Dane Blacker.
Wales U20 full back Davies opened the scoring for Cardiff by scoring in the corner for a try that Gareth Thompson converted. Llewellyn then powered over after a great charge from his skipper, Allen, and Thompson’s second conversion made it 14-0 to Cardiff at the break.
Llanelli hit back at the start of the second half with two tries in the opening five minutes. Ioan Hughes converted them both and suddenly it was 14-14 and game on.
Cardiff Blues wing Harries then edged the home side back in front and fellow regional star Dan Fish added the extras. Llanelli then lost replacement prop Dylan Lawley to the sin-bin for a high tackle and that allowed home hooker Yardley to cross from a driving maul.
Fish improved that score and also added the conversion to man of the match Allen’s fifth and final try. The win moved Cardiff 15 points clear of Carmarthen Quins, who turned the tables on Pontypridd to remain in second place.
The Quins’ 27-20 home win came despite falling behind to two first-half tries from Joel Raikes and Dale Stuckey. Ben Jones converted them both and added a penalty and at 17-0 there was only one team in it.
“A game like this we would have lost last season, but now we are showing good character and that is being reflected in our results,” said a delighted Carmarthen Quins head coach, Emyr Phillips.
“We made a slow start, but worked our way back into contention. We had a positive talk at half time because we knew we had given away two soft tries.
“We felt we could make up for that and we played in the right areas and controlled the second half. It was an excellent forward effort after the break.”
Steff Marshall launched the fightback with two penalties after those two early tries and a try by full back Curtis Ford, which Marshall improved, cut the gap to four points at the interval. Jones kicked a second penalty for the visitors early in the second half, but after that the power of the Quins pack took centre stage.
The magnificent home eight set-up a close range position from which scrum half Gareth Rees was able to burrow over and then flanker Ed Siggery rounded off a tap-penalty move to score a third try. Marshall converted both to complete the comeback.
The Quins are now 15 points behind Cardiff with a game in hand, while third-placed Aberavon, who had their game at Swansea called-off because of illness in the home camp, are five points further back with two games in hand on the leaders.
