Neyland beat St Davids 104-8 in Division Three West A

Game also doubled up as a Pembrokeshire KO Cup quarter final....

The score pretty much tells the story.

Neyland steamed into the semi finals of the Pembrokeshire KO Cup as they racked up a century of points in their league and cup double header at St Davids.

The Pembrokeshire All Blacks crossed for 16 tries and simply overran the hosts, ensuring they stayed top of the table albeit having played more games than the sides immediately below them.

The rout started just two minutes in from a close range scrum, when a planned blind side move set up Patrick Bellerby to score. The full back would go on to wreak havoc for the remainder of the afternoon as he revelled in the space as the visitors opted to attack from everywhere.

It was Bellerby who soon created the second score for centre Dillon McGaffin and then tries from winger Delme Bateman and Bellerby again ensured Neyland had the bonus point wrapped within the first 20 minutes.

They went on to lead 50-3 at half time, and eventually finished up with 104 points to their name as winger Henry McBeth showcased his finishing with four tries, with both Bellerby and McGaffin, who scored from the final play to secure the century, ending up with hat tricks.

Bateman also added a second score and there were tries for centre Alex Codd, No 10 George Evans, replacement second row Craig Power and Mark James, who prompted the biggest noise from the away fans in the first half when he powered through a gap 40 metres out and then side stepped his way over.

St Davids did notch a first half penalty from outside half Matty McLeod and then at least were able to claim a second half try, when a pre-planned lineout move saw second row Gethin Bateman give a return ball to hooker Dan Murphy and he buried over in the corner.

But it proved little more than brief respite on a difficult day for the for the home side.

Man of the match: Patrick Bellerby.

It was easy pickings for Bellerby, and he took full advantage.

Every time he came into the line or fielded a loose kick danger followed, and his tally of three tries could have been more had he been more selfish at times.

Henry McBeth also continued his scoring streak and his genuine pace will bring him many more before the season is out.

Graham Richards (Neyland coach): “Firstly full credit to St Davids - in their situation the easy thing for them to do would have been to call the game off.

“But we were struggling as well to put out a squad today and after two defeats it was important that we were ruthless. We set ourselves a target of 100 points at half time and it’s a good sign that we had the desire to reach it.

“Next week is a big game for us now against Laugharne. We have some things to prove up front and also want to show we can play under pressure, which we didn’t do against Haverfordwest.”

Rhys Price (St Davids captain): “It was a tough day for us but hats off to the boys who did turn out. Considering we had nine players out I can’t argue with the effort Neyland just had too much pace for us to cope with.”

All Blacks run riot

It has been no secret this season that if Neyland have go forward ball, they can put sides to the sword.

Today they not only had go forward ball but acres of space to boot, and the outcome was inevitable.

Coaches Graham Richards and Steve Evans may not have learnt a great deal from hammering St Davids but they would have been pleased with the way they side kept up their intensity and desire. It would have been easy to have gone ragged with the game won at half time, but they continued to play and run in tries.

Laugharne next week will obviously provide a much sterner test. But after two defeats, this wasn’t a bad way to get back on track.

Saints suffer a dark day

The only way St Davids could compete today was to get their hands on the ball for long spells and defend with venom. They managed either.

Both squads were depleted but the brutal reality is, St Davids lack depth more than most and they simply didn’t have the structure to cope with the All Blacks. You could say there was no shortage of effort – but effort often isn’t enough when the gulf between the sides was as big as it was today.

There were plus points in the displays of No 8 Gethin Bateman and second row Chris Jenkins - but missed tackles simply killed them (and yes, the reporter missed his fair share of them).

This was one occasion, where the score really did reflect the game.

St Davids: Fraser Watson, Kenna Evans, Gavin Smith, Rhys Morgan, James Atherton, Matty Mcleod, Harvey Godkin, Will Davies, Dan Murphy, Ben Evans, Rhys Price, Chris Jenkins, Tanapon Phumkhonsan, Mark Wilson, Gethin Bateman. Replacement: Jack Dudley.

Neyland: Patrick Bellerby, Delme Bateman, Alex Codd, Dillon Mcgaffin, Henry Mcbeth, George Evans, Jack Richards, Ben James, Gavin Campbell, Jack Harries, Mark James, Andrew Slark, Ben Williams, Owain Evans, Iestyn Evans. Replacement: Craig Power.