The Carmarthen Warriors held off all challengers at the Aberaeron 7s at Parc Drefach to win a remarkable eighth title in ten years, writes Huw S Thomas.

They beat Penallta 24-10 in the final in front of a bumper Bank Holiday crowd to clinch a purse of £1200, with the runners-up taking home £600.

The Warriors were never seriously troubled through the long, sunny day.

Their understanding of the demands of the shortened version of the game, gained over the many years under the influence of the now retired Arwel Davies, again came to the fore.

After cantering through the early stages, they produced their best performance in the semi final by outplaying a very young Llandovery side 40-12, helped by a stunning hat trick from Player of the Tournament Shaun Leonard.

Premiership outfit Llandovery, whose main squad were busy winning the National 7s down at the Arms Park, looked threatening early on after two tries from centre Jack Parkinson had ruffled Warriors’ feathers.

But the vision of scrum half Tomi Jones, the high work rate of the two Powells Owain and Tom, and the balanced running of the brilliant Leonard proved too much for the Drovers.

In the other semi final, Division One East side Penallta had a very tough match against a Welsh Select side who fielded three Scots including the talented Erland Oag (Aberdeen GSFP) - but tries from Lewis Alexander, Lloyd Rowlands and Elliot Keep deservedly took them into the final with a 21-14 win.

In the final Leonard took centre stage with a quick brace of solo tries and with Mike Jones also racing away, the Warriors were soon 19-0 up.

When Gethin Davies, one of seven Newcastle Emlyn players in the squad, made it 24-0 it was all but over and two late Penallta tries from Curtis Walkley and Grant Pearce were nothing more than consolation.

Bargoed won the Plate 24-12 against a Ponty Butchers side that fielded 45 year old Jason Forster, the former Newport flanker capped back in 2004.

In the junior tournaments held over the weekend there were wins for Llandaf (under 13), Cardigan (under 15) and Crymych (under 16 and U18)

Carmarthen warriors squad: Tomi Jones, Mike Jones, Shaun Leonard, Gethin Davies, Ollie Butterworth, Barry Thomas , Owain Powell (all Newcastle Emlyn), Gareth James, Josh Jenner (both Yslalyfera), Wayne Price (Ammanford), Tom Powell (Crymych), Aled Jones (Carmarthen Ath)

Semi final results:

Carmarthen Warriors 40-12 Llandovery; Penallta 21-14 Welsh Select

Final: Carmarthen Warriors 24-10 Penallta