Llandovery Seconds, reinforced by some of last season’s 1^st XV members, had an exciting 33-24 win at Brecon in mid week. 

The highlight of the game was a very well taken hat trick from wing Rhodri Thomas who will be pushing for a 1^st team place now that he is over a serious knee injury whilst other Drovers to cross were wing Chris Thomas and Wales Deaf prop Ceri Davies. Full back Celfyn Davies kicked four conversions. 

Brecon coach Ian Jones, a former Llandovery captain, was delighted with the closeness of the game. “It augurs well for Brecon if we can push a strong Llandovery XV and we are looking forward to a long and fruitful alliance with the Drovers, not only for their benefit but for ours.”

"The scoreline hides a superb second half revival by Dunvant who were 22-0 down at half-time. I'm more than pleased with our first half performance that gave us a cushion to defend in the second half," said Llandovery boss Martin Davies.

Prolific full-back Celfyn Davies continued his points scoring from last season with a try, penalty and the conversions of two tries from lock Glyn Davies and one each from centre Gareth Davies and wing Rhodri Thomas.

The second half revival by Dunvant was down to tries by scrum-half Lee Tucker, No 8 Jamie Williams and centre Mike Arnold. Full-back Lee Copner also scored and kicked three conversions.

Llandovery put in a commanding second half performance to record a comfortable win. A penalty by fly-half Paul Warlow were the only points Bonymaen could manage, and wing Rhodri Thomas scored twice to give Llandovery a10-0 half-time lead.

Skipper and hooker Rhys Richards crossed in the second half, as did No. 8 Daniel Thomas and full-back Celfyn Davies, who also kicked three conversions.

Bonymaen also had their heroes with creditable efforts by long-serving players such as hooker Ray Punchard, lock Ceri Patrick and centre Chris Davies.

Full-back Celfyn Davies got 24 points from seven conversions and two tries, while others to cross included centres Gareth Augustus and Emrys Evans, half-backs Arwel Davies and Mathew Bailey and wing Aled Jenkins.

Llandovery were 28-0 up at the break, with Waunarlwydd scoring their only try in the second half through prop Robert Carey.

''Llandovery made a great start and were 12-0 up after just 10 minutes. But we came back into the game and took control in the second half,'' said Kidwelly official David Morgan.

The four Kidwelly tries were down to hooker Kyle Jones, No. 8 Chris Cray, flanker Simon Jones and full-back Steven Richards, with scrum-half Rhys Jones and centre Dean Walters landing one conversion apiece.

Fly-half Adrian Williams converted his own try and kicked three penalties for Llangadog, whose second try was down to scrum-half Dyfed Thomas.

Llandovery replied with a tries by No 8 Daniel Thomas and full-back Celfyn Davies, who added one conversion.

"We have no complaints and were beaten by a better Llangadog side," said Llandovery official Martin Davies. "Llangadog's second half defence was awesome. They were constantly up in our faces and put in a number of big hits".

A challenge shield provided by Clive at The Bear, Llandovery was presented to victors Llangadog at the end of the match. Further shields were presented to Llandovery man of the match, scrum-half Aled Jenkins, and Llangadog man of the match, hooker Dylan Davies.

Wing Deian Augustus picked up a hat-trick for Llandovery, with four more tries going to wing Gareth Augustus, fly-half Arwel Davies, centre Emrys Evans and full-back Howard Thomas, who also landed six conversions. Whitland replied with two penalties in the first half by fly-half Wayne Morris.

But Llandovery had to dig deep to overcome a 9-8 half-time deficit with a five try blitz in the second half.

Star of the Llandovery revival was wing Gareth Augustus who sped over for four tries after the interval as the Penlan effort faltered. Fly-half Craig Francis landed a hat-trick of penalties to give Penlan their half-time lead while the rest of the Llandovery points came from tries by wing Rhodri Thomas and replacement scrum-half Aled Jenkins with full-back Celfyn Davies adding two penalties and one conversion.

"There was nothing in it at the end of the first half but I thought we handled the ball better in the second half. Penlan also played good attacking rugby and I was pleased with our team effort," said Llandovery boss Martin Davies.

Groundsman Roger James did a cracking job for the Drovers in getting the pitch ready and he was rewarded with a crushing performance by the Llandovery pack that set the platform for the seven-try victory.

Four of the tries were shared between centres Rhodri Thomas and Gareth Augustus, with others going to fly-half Arwel Davies, wing Deian Augustus and full-back Celfyn Davies, who also kicked three conversions.

Despite the deadly finishing of the Drovers back division, Llandovery supremo Martin Davies was keen to point out the solid platform supplied by the hard-working home pack. "All the tries were scored by the backs but our front five did their work superbly in the scrums and the forwards also won plenty of good lineout ball through flanker Alfyn Phillips and the rest of the back row," he said.

Locks Malcolm Spears and Steffan Jones hit the try-line for Waun in the first half with a third try coming from flanker Steffan Jones after fly-half Andrew Webster had landed two penalties.

Llandovery finally broke the Waun defence midway through the second half with full-back Celfyn Davies converting his own try with a fine touchline kick and adding the extra points to tries by lock Aled Evans and fly-half Arwel Davies.

"We were well beaten on the day," was the verdict at the final whistle from Llandovery boss Martin Davies.

Bonymaen broke through the Llandovery defence on five occasions with tries by skipper and No 8 David Allan, hooker Dean Davies, prop Ricky James and replacement No 8 David Hills. Fly-half Paul Warlow supplied the rest with a try, a penalty and two conversions.

Llandovery replied with a couple of tries by centre Deian Augustus, scrum-half Aled Jenkins and wing Rhodri Thomas with two conversions by full-back Celfyn Davies.

Four of the seven Llandovery tries were shared between centre Emrys Evans and wing Dyfed Watkins with more touchdowns coming from flanker Ken Hughes and scrum-half Aled Jenkins. Full-back Celfyn Davies also scored and fired over four conversions plus a penalty.

"After losing at Bonymaen before Christmas, we are all pleased to start the new year with a win. There was no shortage of attacking rugby from both sides," said Llandovery boss Martin Davies.

Llangennech centre Paul Davies crossed for two tries with one each from prop Stuart Dow and wing Hefin Jones. Full-back David Owens added two conversions and a penalty for Llangennech who trailed 21-10 at half-time.

Llandovery crossed for four tries in a game full of expansive rugby with touchdowns for scrum-half Aled Jenkins, centre Emrys Evans, lock Aled Evans and No 8 Daniel Thomas. Centre Rhys Davies completed the scoring with two conversions and a penalty.

Llandovery replied with tries by centre Daniel Thomas and lock Andrew Edwards with fly-half Andrew Webster adding a penalty.

"We were bullied off the park by a  more street-wise pack", said Llandovery boss Martin Davies.

Drovers supremo Martin Davies said that at one stage on Saturday morning it looked as though there was going to be a snowball fight and not a rugby game. He said: “We had the call at 9am on Saturday morning saying that the ground was frozen and it was still snowing. We thought we would have to call the game off and have a snowball fight instead. Having said that though, the game was on and we’re happy to be taking the shield back up the A4069 with us.”

Mumbles scored a converted try against the run of play when they capitalised after a charged-down kick.

Scrum-half Aled Jenkins scored twice for Llandovery, whose third try came from centre Emrys Evans. Mumbles led 6-5 at half-time after fly-half Arwel Thomas had fired over a couple of penalties. The only try for the home side came from wing Andrew Davies.

''The weather changed for the worse during the game and things just didn't go our way,'' said Mumbles boss Andy Williams.