“A STEP BACK IN TIME”
(By Percy Jones)
SEASON 1985 -86
Although the Quins looked to have put together a strong squad for the 1985/86 season under the leadership of Dylan Richards, they would not have been pleased with the trimmer in which they played, especially in the West Wales League. They lost their first four league games and only won one away league game which was against
Llandovery in the last month of the season. Of the 18 league games played, the Quins lost 12, drew one and managed just five wins. They did win four friendlies out of the six they played.
Surprisingly, the Quins had an excellent run in the Welsh Cup beating Trinity College in the first round in the Park by 32-12, Bynea away in the second round by 16-13 and British Steel Company away in the third round by 15-6. However, they failed to cope with a strong Seven Sisters XV in the park in the fourth round going down by 9-0. They had a very brief run in the West Wales Cup losing away in the first round by 21-9 to Dunvant. They also had a quick exit in the District ‘0’ 7’s tournament losing in the first round to Kidwelly.
Wed 26th March 1986
Carmarthen Quins 16 pts, Llandovery 0.
(By kind permission of the Carmarthen Journal)
QUINS RUN FREE WITH LLANDOVERY
To the delight of their supporters, the Quills produced their usual free-running style in atrocious conditions to capture two valuable points against close section rivals
Llandovery. After winning the toss, the Quins’ skipper Dylan Richards elected to play with the strong wind and the home side went straight into the attack. It was Richards who claimed the first points with a mighty 40-yard penalty.
The home backs were handling the slippery ball much better than their opponents and were able to keep Llandovery on the defensive for long periods. Young player Mark Evans was showing the kind of form which will make him a great asset next season and used his height to good effect in the line outs.
Scrum half Simon Rogers was revelling in the kind of possession he has not enjoyed for much of the season and together with Richards, cleverly dictated play. From a scrum near the Llandovery line, the control the Quins pack was able to muster
enabled Richard Thomas to pick up and power over for a try. Richards added the conversion.
Just on half time the same measure of control at a set piece gave Rogers the chance to pick up and dive over, giving the Quins a 13 point lead at the break. With the wind now in Llandovery’s favour it was assumed they would get back into the game. But the Quins open side wing forward Martin Haughey produced such a masterful display and curtailed Llandovery’s half backs so well they could not escape his stranglehold.
Again it was the Quins who were entertaining the supporters and Peter Furlong and Roger Evans proved ready to oblige. Furlong busily ferreted out gaps in the visitor’s cover coming close to crossing several times while Evans overcame the treacherous conditions at the back to launch several promising attacks. This fine display was very encouraging despite the disappointing season to date:
The Quins players who stood out were Mark Evans, Richard Thomas, Phillip Beynon and Roger Evans.