Premier Wales Round 7 round-up

Aberavon Fighting Irish 48-30 Newport Titans

Despite once again having over 20 players out due to Wales commitments, Aberavon Fighting Irish stormed into second place in the league.

"It was the best I've felt in all the years I've been training rugby teams," said Aberavon coach Chris O'Callaghan.

"As well as the Wales A match, the Students had a training session in preparation for the World Cup so we really had to dig deep in terms of numbers but the lads played their hearts out - I couldn't be happier."

Aberavon were always in the lead after Ben Davies ran 50m to score early in the game.

Lee Jones followed that up with a 75m effort before Richard Davies got a long-range try back for Newport.

Jones and Richard Davies both ended up with hat-tricks for their respective sides, while Ben Davies added another for himself.

Newport threatened a revival after tries from Martin Crawley and Ross Palmer but further tries from Andy Llewellyn, Gareth Lewis and Sean O'Kelly made sure of the match for the Fighting Irish.

Cardiff Demons 37-42 Swansea Valley Miners

Swansea Valley Miners took advantage of Cardiff Demons' defensive lapses to record an excellent 42-37 win at Taff's Well.

Cardiff took the lead after seven minutes when skipper Daz White set up John-Paul Evans 40m out to run up the left flank and score under the posts.

Swansea equalised four minutes later after the ball was worked out to Gethin Daniel to score on the right.

Cardiff made it 12-4 on 19 minutes when Adam King danced down the left wing, breaking two tackles to score under the posts.

But Swansea brought the gap back to two points again on 26 minutes after Craig Jones stormed over.

Cardiff struck back almost immediately, Jamie Iles scoring an excellent try in the corner and White successfully kicking a tricky conversion.

White followed this up with a field goal a few minutes later before intercepting a Miners pass, setting up newcomer Andy Daniel to score in the right corner.

White converted to make the score 25-10 at half-time.

The turning point in the game was in the first minute of the second half.

Choosing to run the ball in himself rather than laying the ball off to Tom Burnell, Oliver Hughes was held up over the line.

Hughes knocked on in the resulting play-the-ball, leading Swansea to go on the attack and, following a mix-up in the Demons defence, Ashley James stormed over to score for Swansea.

This ignited Swansea's fire and the Miners then went over for three more tries.

James added another before Nick Boyce and Andrew Jenkins both scored from equally good runs.

Pat Howell got one back for Cardiff to make it 31-32, but Ken Allen and Andrew Ford wrapped things up for Swansea, charging past the weak Demons defence.

Matthew Martin's last-minute attempt was just a consolation.

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Torfaen Tigers 60-18 Valley Cougars

Torfaen Tigers won their first game of the season in convincing fashion and in good team spirit, beating Valley Cougars 60-18 at the Memorial ground.

A slow start to the game gave Valley Cougars the initial advantage, but Torfaen responded with 12 tries in a spectacular exhibition.

Early tries from Mark Jones and Mukeshli Jones didn¿t give the Tigers crowd much expectation of what was to follow.

Torfaen's first try was a combination of fast pace from Luke Bigham and Gareth Marks to allow David West to cross the line, converted by Scott Bessant.

A 20-minute burst of play by the Tigers produced tries from Gareth Marks and Dale Nash, Marks' try splitting the defence combining with backs to score.

Cougars responded with goal-line pressure but hard tackling resulted in a turnover.

Two quick plays of the ball allowed David Davies a 40-yard run, combining with Dale Nash to allow Nolan Nicklin to score and convert from the touchline to make the half-time score of 26-12 to the Tigers.

The second half restarted with continued dominance by Torfaen running in a further seven tries.

The first was a magnificent solo effort by Matthew Davies, with a 25-yard run splitting two defenders with a burst of pace.

Four outstanding tries by debutant Jesse Farthing typified the outstanding play between backs and forwards, the highlight being a charging direct run by forward Rob Taylor, busting the line with a succession of quick hands along the backs for Farthing to cross the line.

Man of the match was experienced player Nolan Nicklin, who crossed the line twice in the second half, sealing his hat-trick.

The try of the match epitomising the Tigers confidence and good display of team work saw Neil Lewis produce a 40-yard run bumping off defenders to allow Robert Nash, whose good support running produced a 25-yard unopposed try.

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Parkhouse Recruitment Conference Home Nations:
Wales 70-8 Scotland

Wales successfully opened their defence of the Parkhouse Recruitment Conference Home Nations Championship at the Brewery Field on Sunday in front of a crowd of over 700.

Wales took the lead after only four minutes. Scotland's Al Stewart knocked on and from the resulting set, Damien Hudd forced his way over despite being challenged by a pack of defenders.

Unfortunately one of that pack, Mark Slatter was crushed in the pile and was stretchered off taking no further part in the game.

As well as missing the conversion, Gareth Jones was unsuccessful with a penalty five minutes later, but Wales eventually extended their lead in the 18th minute after Owen Jones set up Gareth Holtham in the left corner.

Damien Smith made it 12-0 minutes later after a 30m run down the left wing. Gareth Jones kicked the extras.

Scotland finally got on the board in the 27th minute, Barry Edgar kicking a penalty, but that just spurred Wales on to start a first-half demolition.

The Dragons struck back straight away after Sean O¿Brien ran 20m to ground on the right.

Matt Entwhistle added another, scoring under the sticks before Gareth Holtham got his second try of the afternoon.

Neil Dixon added another just before half-time to put Wales 34-2 up at the break.

Wales started where they left off in the second half, scoring from the first set of six as Jim Barnes ran 40m to ground.

Scotland struck back straight away after Andy Champ intercepted a pass and ran 50m to score under the posts.

But Wales responded with two tries in as many minutes. Gareth Jones set up Earl Palmer to score in the corner before weaving his way through the Scottish defence to ground himself.

Barnes was set up by Karl Hocking for his second after 55 minutes before running 30m for his hat-trick eight minutes later.

Neil Dixon ran 50m to make the score 66-8 in the 70th minute. Holtham got his hat-trick three minutes later to complete the rout.

Wales¿ under-15 and under-19 teams also registered emphatic victories earlier in the day, beating their Scottish counterparts 64-4 and 36-12 respectively.

Wales: Neil Dixon (Bridgend Blue Bulls), Damien Smith (Torfaen Tigers), Earl Palmer (Newport Titans), Gareth Holtham (Cardiff Demons), Sean O'Brien (Aberavon Fighting Irish), Owen Jones (Newport Titans), Gareth Jones (Cardiff Demons), Nathan Strong (Bridgend Blue Bulls), Lloyd O'Connor (Bridgend Blue Bulls), Steve Mayley (Torfaen Tigers), Karl Hocking (Bridgend Blue Bulls), Damien Hudd (Torfaen Tigers (Capt)), Marcus Sainsbury (Bridgend Blue Bulls). Subs: Mark Wheeler (Newport Titans), Jim Barnes (Royal Navy), Tyrone Mahoney (Newport Titans), Matt Entwhistle (Torfaen Tigers).

Tries: Hudd (4), Holtham (18, 34, 73), Smith (20). O¿Brien (28), Entwhistle (32), Dixon (40, 70), Barnes (41, 55, 63), Palmer (45), G Jones (46); Goals: G Jones 7/15

Scotland: Barry Edgar (Clyde Bulls), Andy Champ (Hemel Stags), Andy Brown (Fife Lions), Kieran Eddy (Clyde Bulls), Paul Clark (Somerset Vikings), Ian Gilmour (Leicester Pheonix), Al Stewart (Liverpool Buccaneers), Ash Carroll (Edinburgh Eagles), Mark Burns (Birmingham Bulldogs), James McKay (Penrith Pumas), Mark Slatter (Sheffield Hawks), Scott McGillivray (Fife Lions), Andy Borthwick (Newcastle). Subs: Ray Baselala (Royal Scots), Gavin Curry (Fife Lions), Ewan Drummond (Kent Ravens), Adam Nunn (Clyde Bulls).

Tries: Champ (43); Goals: Edgar 2/2

Referee: Steve Davies (Australia)