“A STEP BACK IN TIME”
(By Percy Jones)
SEASON 1975 -76
Martin Stevens took over the captaincy for this season with the club hoping to continue to grow in strength following a very successful centenary year in 1974-75. However, it turned out a very disappointing season. The Quins played a total of 26 games winning 7 and losing 19.
They had early exits from both cup competitions. They beat Bynea 13 points to 11 at home in the first round of the Welsh Cup but lost by 22 points to 9 at home to Lampeter in the second round. They won again in the first round of the West Wales Cup beating Amman United at home by the narrowest of margins of 7 points to 6, but succumbed to Morriston away in the second round by 19 points to 4. There were just 28 tries scored throughout the season with winger Peter Jenkins top try scorer with 5 tries.
Quins Prevent Double
Carmarthen Quins 10 pts., Pontardulais 3 pts.
(By kind permission of the Carmarthen Journal)
26th December 1975
A beautifully controlled swerve and a devastating side-step by centre Milwyn Jones to score wide out ended the ‘Bonts’ quest for the double. Up until then the Quins had had to pull out all the stops to keep on to their 6-3 lead.
Both sides are in the process of team building and both were fielding young sides. As a match it was a little disappointing, the handling of both teams was untidy and this resulted in poor finishing. There were frequent errors, passes were dropped and support was not always available. Quins winger Peter Jenkins with his strength and pace to break out of tackles proved to be one of the most dangerous runners on the field but was not given enough good ball to show his paces.
Although Pontardulais had greater weight in the tight and extra inches in the line-out, they failed to curb the eagerness of the young Quins forwards. Carmarthen were quite happy to lose the ball so that they could drive so that they could drive through to the oppositions discomfort and the Quins pack deserve credit for the way they stuck to their task.
SCORING
Stand – off Colin Davies gave Carmarthen the lead seconds before half time with a remarkable try. Davies, twenty yards out and nearly the whole of Pontardulais between him and the try line, weaved and jinked through a bewildered defence to touch down for a great try. Bleddyn Griffiths added the extra points with an excellent kick.
The second half was a ding-dong affair with both try lines having narrow escapes. ‘Bont’ after a little pressure were rewarded in the 30th minute when Vernon Williams popped over an easy penalty. Any hope the visitors had of a grandstand finish were dashed five minutes later when Milwyn Jones delivered the killer try which gave Quins a deserved win.
The home backs had tackled superbly throughout and stifled out everything that the visitors could offer. The Quins desperately needed this win to boost their confidence for next week’s hard encounter at Crynant.