“A STEP BACK IN TIME”
(By Percy Jones)
SEASON 1972/73
Versatile number eight Roger Walters was the player’s choice for the captaincy of the 1st XV for this season and there was a great deal to improve on after a disappointing season in 71/72. Roger “Bach” Evans had taken over the mantle at full-back from Brian Furlong and in his first season Roger actually played in every one of the club’s 36 games ending up with two tries to his name. Winger Spencer Jones was again on the try scoring trail ending up with a tally of 14. Howard Iles managed 128 points with his boot. A big boost for the team was the decision by ex-Llanelli forward Brian Llewellyn to join the team and he made an immediate impact by helping the team to a home Boxing Day win by 18pts to 4pts against Trimsaran.
Of the 36 games played the Quins won 14; lost 19 and drew 3. They had a total of 336 points for with 427 against. They also had an early exit from both the Welsh and West Wales cup competitions. The one positive outcome for the season was in the Disrict “G” 7’s competition held at Stradey Park when they went one better than the previous season’s effort. On this occasion, they defeated Furnace, Lampeter and Laugharne on their way to the final where they had a 24pts to 16pts win against Llanelli Wanderers. That win put them through to the National 7’s Competition at Cardiff.
Saturday 24th February 1973 at Carmarthen Park
K.O.’d QUINS INSIST: “IT WAS NO PENALTY”
Loughor 9pts; Carmarthen Quins. 6 pts;
(By permission of the Carmarthen Journal)
A hotly disputed late penalty robbed Carmarthen of richly deserved replay in Saturday’s second round of the West Wales Cup. With full time rapidly approaching the sides were locked at 6-6, but as the excitement grew Loughor surged forward and put tremendous pressure on Carmarthen’s defence.
From the set piece just inside the visitor’s half the ball was swiftly worked out to right wing Allan Jeffries who darted infield before sending a high up and under into the Carmarthen “25.” But the referee ruled that he was tackled after the kick and promptly awarded Loughor a penalty. Despite strong protests by Carmarthen the decision stood and full-back Jim Bailey took advantage of the situation to put his side into the next round of the competition.
DOMINATED
Up to that point, Carmarthen had given their Glamorgan opponents a tremendous tussle. Although the home forwards dominated the scrums, the Quins were in complete control of the lines-out thanks largely to the splendid work of skipper Roger Walters and Brian Llewellyn.
Behind the scrum, Hugh Davies was a power of strength and kept his threequarters in perpetual motion.The Quins were soon on the rampage and took the lead in the 18th minute when ace kicker Howard Iles put over a magnificent penalty from 45 yards. This only spurred Loughor to greater effort and they almost went ahead following a terrific forward rush and only fine tackling by Carmarthen’s backs denied them a score.
Ten minutes from the break Carmarthen increased their lead when Iles landed another penalty from a difficult angle. Then winger David Dyer came close following a fine forward movement by the Quins backs while Jim Bailey almost went over for Loughor following a great 40 yard run.
DREW LEVEL
Loughor took full advantage of a strong wind in the second half with Borthwick and Bailey keeping Carmarthen firmly penned inside their territory with long touch-finding kicks. Deservedly, the home side drew level in the 45th minute when Allan Powell ran in for a try which Bailey converted.. Iles had an opportunity to put his side back in the lead with a difficult penalty but had little chance of succeeding against the strong wind. But there were no excuses for Bailey’s failure to put over a similar kick directly in front of the posts two minutes later.
Skipper Roger Walters nearly sealed victory for Carmarthen when he shrugged off half-a-dozen challenges on a breathtaking 50 yard run only to be bundled into touch less than a yard from the line. Then came that dramatic penalty three minutes from time to knock Carmarthen out of the competition for another year.