Drovers drive it home

Mar 23 2008 by Staff Reporter, Wales On Sunday

LLANDOVERY gained a vital win at a cold and blustery Church Bank to keep alive their hopes of avoiding relegation.

The Drovers were full value for their victory and would have gained a bonus point with more steadiness near the Vale goal-line.

The teams shared six tries but two of the Vale tries were opportunistic.

Centre Kristian Owen picked up a spilled Llandovery ball on halfway to sprint clear and scrum-half Bryan Shelbourne took advantage of a mix-up in the Llandovery back row to swoop on a loose ball.

Llandovery led 21-7 at the break through tries from centre Mike Jones and another from replacement full-back Gareth James.

They were also indebted to the tactical acumen and fine goal kicking of fly-half Gareth Morgan, who gained ground with his punting and also racked up 11 first-half points.

Shelbourne’s second-half try brought the Steelmen to 21-14 but a try from home hooker Emyr Phillips plus a conversion and penalty by Morgan made the late try from Vale prop Anthony Lott purely incidental.

Llandovery: Tries – M Jones, G James, E Phillips; cons – G Morgan (2); pens – G Morgan (4).

Ebbw Vale: Tries – K Owen, B Shelbourne, A Lott; cons – C Anderson (2); drop goal – C Anderson.