THE 30th annual Newport 7s went the way of the Daionic Crusaders as they won a thrilling final in sudden death against the Preseli Barbarians.

The Barbarians seemed to have had the silverware sown up as they led 4-1 midway through the second half, but three late Daionic scores forced extra time - and then Llantrisant RFC player Dafydd Williams won it for the Crusaders when he sniped over in the corner just two minutes after the restart.

The tournament kicked off in adverse weather conditions, and the late withdrawal of two teams meant there was three sides in both Group A and Group B - with each playing each other twice.

Organisers also scheduled in a ‘bonus’ group game, with the winners of Group A playing the bottom team of B, the winner of B playing the bottom side of A, and the two runners up also facing off.

After the group stages were completed, a league was drawn up based on how each side had fared in their five games, with the top two going into the cup final, the next two the plate final, and the bottom two being eliminated.

Daionic Crusaders comfortably qualified for the final after winning all five of their games, while the Young Gulls finished level on points with the Babarians - with the latter grabbing second place on try count.

The Cardigan Exiles finished fourth - while hosts Newport and the Carmarthen Warriors were eliminated after both suffered five successive defeats.

The Warriors had entered the tournament as defending champions, but with their strongest players away at the Bournemouth 7s, had a player sent off in each of their first two games, and had to play the remainder of the day with an eight man squad.

In the Plate final, the Young Gulls, made up mainly of Fishguard RFC youngsters, comfortably beat the Cardigan Exiles 5-1.

And by the final, the rain had dispersed and in bright sunshine, the Crusaders and Barbarians provided a fitting finish to the day.

In the post-tournament presentations, Newport RFC Chairman Phil Evans presented the Glyn and Penny Rees Memorial Cup to winning captain Trystan Griffiths, and player manager Dyfan Dafydd, as well as £500 in prize money to the Crusaders.

Dafydd Williams received £100 after being adjudged player of the tournament, while the Barbarians were handed £250 as runners up.

Plate winners the Young Gulls received £150.

The officials for the day, David Byrne, John Griffiths, Colin Phillips, and Andrew Thomas, also received medals for their work throughout the tournament.

Group A:
Daionic Crusaders 5-1 Cardigan Exiles
Newport 0-4 Daionic Crusaders
Cardigan 7-1 Newport
Daionic Crusaders 4-2 Cardigan Exiles
Newport 0-10 Daionic Crusaders
Cardigan Exiles 6-1 Newport

Group B:
Carmarthen Warriors 1-3 Preseli Barbarians
Carmarthen Warriors 1-2 Young Gulls
Preseli Barbarians 2-3 Young Gulls
Carmarthen Warriors 1-6 Preseli Barbarians
Carmarthen Warriors 3-6 Young Gulls
Preseli Barbarians 3-1 Young Gulls

‘Bonus’ group games:
Daionic Crusaders 7-3 Carmarthen Warriors
Preseli Barbarians 9-0 Newport
Cardigan Exiles 2-5 Young Gulls

Plate final:
Young Gulls 5-1 Cardigan Exiles

Cup final:
Daionic Crusaders 5-4 Preseli Barbarians
(after sudden death)