“The last time I scored a hat-trick was at U16s level. They were all built off a driving maul and that was down to the work put in by Sam Hobbs on the training field during the week,” said the 27-year-old Palmer.
“We were always going to struggle to hit the ground running after such a big season and losing so many players, but now we are starting to click. We were missing a few key players, with four or five dropping out with flu, but we managed to gel.
“We will take whichever game comes at us in the semi-final. They are all good teams, but we did manage to beat Cardiff four times last season.”
Last season Newport looked dead certs to win the Indigo Premiership until Cardiff came with a late surge and denied them at the death. They may have to give up on the league again this season – they are currently 18 points behind the unbeaten Blue & Blacks with a game in hand – but they aren’t contemplating loosening their grip on the cup they won by beating Aberavon in the final.
Having easily overcome Swansea 45-17 in their first game in Pool C, they were made to work hard in the opening quarter, but gradually got on top through the relentless work of their pack. Hooker Herny Palmer led the way in that respect, grabbing the headlines with a hat-trick of tries.
All three came from close range driving mauls, with two of them coming from unstoppable line-outs. It was a day he won’t forget in a hurry as he carried off the man of the match award.
The Newport pack were dominant at the scrum, better drilled at the line-out and more cohesive all round. Once they got their noses in front there was no stopping them and they go into a final four with former cup winners Cardiff, despite their defeat at Llandovery, RGC and Pontypridd.
The game got off to a poor start for the Black & Ambers as Wales U20 win Ol Andrew ended up in the sin-bin after only 11 minutes for a deliberate knock on near half-way that broke up a promising Llanelli back line move. A minute before his return Geraint O’Driscoll opened the scoring with a home penalty and two minutes after he came back onto the field Palmer trundled over for his first try.
Josh Phillips replied with a penalty for the visitors before O’Driscoll converted Palmer’s second to make it 15-3 at the break. Llanelli were still in the hunt, despite being massively overpowered at the scrum, and struck early in the second half.
Within a minute of the re-start Tom Phillips’ men earned a penalty in the Newport 22 and scrum half Archie Hughes raced in to take a quick tap and go and send wing Liam Hutchings in at the left corner with barely a minute played of the second half.
Phillips converted superbly off the touchline to cut the gap to five points, but that was as close as the visitors got. Palmer’s third try of the game in the 49th minute put Newport back in control and then Andrew crossed in the right corner to stretch the lead to 15 points after relentless forward pressure.
Jac Davies grabbed a second try for Llaneli as he raced onto a neat kick through, but the holders finished with a flourish as scrum half Dafydd Buckland ran in a fifth home try. O’Driscoll converted to complete the job.
Scorers: Newport: Tries: H Palmer 3, O Andrew, D Buckland; Cons: G O’Driscoll 2; Pen: G O’Driscoll. Llanelli: Tries: L Hutchings, J Davies; Con: J Phillips; Pen: J Phillips
