Celtic League: Swansea come back with style
Llanelli 21 Swansea 27
Revitalised Swansea hit back in style to show that their faltering quest
for Celtic League title and retention of their Welsh-Scottish prize might
not be the lost cause recent results suggested.
Fly-half Stephen Jones was Llanelli’s saviour with last-gasp winners to
sink first Ulster and then Pontypridd.
But not even a clean sheet of seven penalty goals in as many attempts
could rescue his side a third time as they tossed away chances galore.
But Swansea were worthy of their spirited success in a typical blood and
thunder derby between Wales’s oldest rivals.
And they did it without the services of locks James Griffiths and Tyrone
Maullin, who were sin-binned within a minute of each other in the first
half.
Even with 13 men their resistance never cracked and Llanelli’s only
reward came through Jones’ boot.
In contrast Swansea notched three tries.
The first came from a controversial penalty try decision by international referee David McHugh but there was nothing fortunate about the clincher scored by full-back Kevin Morgan in the final five minutes.
Morgan seized his counter-attack chance brilliantly and the conversion
by fly-half Gavin Henson crowned a memorable night for him as he
collected 15 points with a mature performance.
Now Swansea have everything to play for as they attempt to catch the
leaders in the Celtic League’s Pool A.