Hugh Gustafson, head coach at Swansea, said: “I thought the opening 20 minutes was the best period we’ve played this season.
“We were dominant physically and got great field position, but then ill-discipline kicked in and we had three yellow cards at one stage which inevitably meant we lost territory.
“It was a credit to Llanelli that they came back looking for their first win of the season, but I was proud we held out in the final 10 minutes even though it was disappointing not to get the bonus point.
“We need to replicate our first 20 minutes for 70 minutes. If we do that, I think we could put a lot of teams to the sword.
“We showed good composure and our dominance at the set-piece told in the final minutes as we never let Llanelli back into our half.
“We have a big game next week against Bridgend and they’ll be up for a win, especially after we defeated them last time out.”
The visitors deservedly opened the scoring when Iestyn Merriman burst through a tackle and found James Davies in support. The fly-half drew his man and fired a pass to Harri Houston who scored.
Swansea continued to attack after the restart with Davies kicking a 50:22. Charlie Davies took the line-out and fed Tom Sloane for a simple try at the corner.
J Rhys Williams failed to make touch from a penalty, but a mistake by the home side saw Gareth Rees hack the ball forward from his own 22.
With the Llanelli defence struggling to get back, Rees chipped forward again and beat the defending Iwan Evans to score.
Rhys Cherry and Sloane were yellow carded for a fight and a professional foul by Houston earned him a spell on the sidelines too. On the stroke of half time, Llanelli were handed a lifeline when Nathan Hart took a line-out in the Swansea 22.
The home side used their numerical advantage behind the scrum to get quick ball out wide for Harrison Button to score.
The immense home pressure on the Swansea line soon told with Button squeezing over at the corner for his second try.
Llanelli continued to inject pace into the game with Ifan Beynon-Thomas and Llew Smith linking up in midfield. Tom Zoogah powered over the 22 before the ball was fed out wide for Ryan Davies to touch down in the corner.
It took the Whites almost 30 minutes to embark on their first meaningful attack of the second half and an offside offence saw Williams stem the tide with a three pointer.
In the closing stages, Iwan Evans failed to take a Chris Morgans box kick, gifting the visitors a scrum inside the Llanelli half. Swansea kept possession well and forced the home side into giving away a crucial penalty, which Williams kicked to seal victory.
Llandovery recorded their eighth win in nine Premiership Cup games by beating Bridgend 27-7.
Euros Evans’ side stay in second place in the western conference and next week’s game against leaders Aberavon will decide who finishes on top.
Llandovery made nine changes from the side that beat Llanelli 54-12 but still had enough strength in depth to ride the home challenge.
They chalked up four tries in their bonus-point win. Wing Aaron Warren, hooker Jamie Cox and scrum-half Dafydd Land all scored before the break. Classy centre Rhodri Jones added another in the second period.
It was Jones’s 200th appearance for the club and he again showed he remains one of the outstanding players in the Premiership.
With the lion’s share of possession, Llandovery kept the ball in hand throughout and with a little bit more accuracy, they could have doubled their 17-point first half tally.
The Ravens had their best patch immediately after the interval when scrum-half Chris Williams dummied through from close range for full-back Owen Howe to convert.
Llandovery soon took back control, centre Kristian Jones kicking a penalty and the conversion of the Jones try.
It was enough for what was ultimately a fairly comfortable victory and the showdown between the Wizards and Llandovery should be one to watch.
It will be a game between the two best sides from the western conference.
Aberavon will battle it out with Llandovery for the top spot in the Premiership Cup West division when they meet next weekend at Church Bank.
The Wizards’ latest bonus-point win kept them two points clear of the Drovers at the top with one game to play and came despite a raft of injuries and regional call-ups.
Head coach Jason Hyatt had to force centre Joe Thomas to play at outside half and had no scrum half cover on his bench as his side beat Carmarthen Quins 22-17.
Flanker Lloyd Evans took over as the fourth captain for Aberavon this season and had another fine game. Opposite him, the former Dragons back row specialist Nic Cudd picked up an injury in the opening five minutes and had to leave the field.
Aberavon went ahead when young wing Aled Rees scored a try and then former Wales U20 wing Frankie Jones added a second. Full back Chris Banfield converted the latter and the Wizards were 12-0 ahead at the break.
The Quins hit back early in the second half when they worked their prolific wing Morgan Griffiths clear for a try, but Aberavon hit back immediately as acting skipper Evans crossed for a third home try.
The visitors, still on course for a place in the knock out phase, kept battling away and replacement scrum half Rhodri Davies took a quick tap penalty and raced clear for a try that his half-back partner Jac Wilson improved off the tee.
The Wizards were still one try short of their bonus-point, but the home fans didn’t have to wait much longer for it. No 8 Andrew Waite started a move in his own half that led to centre Chay Smith turned on the gas to race clear for the vital fourth score.
There was one last hurrah from the Quins with an interception try from Wilson. That at least ensured they went home with a losing bonus-point to remain in third place.
