Sport

Skudder’s try hat trick in Blues victory

Published

9 years ago

September 27, 2017

Written by Jonathan Twigg

HAVERFORDWEST travelled to Pill Parks, Llangwm on Saturday (Sept 23) and returned with a convincing 54-5 victory to keep their 100% Division 3A West league record intact thanks to a hat trick of tries from winger Ben Skudder.

Skudder was part of a back division which dominated the game for the ‘Blues’ as outside half Matthew Davies pulled the strings for centre pairing of Gareth John and Dane Pindair to cause problems all afternoon for the hosts.

In fairness to the Wasps they battled hard to the end and ensured their more ‘millionaire’ opponents didn’t get it all their own way as the scoreline suggests, especially in the game’s opening quarter when outside half Louis Murphy had three kickable penalty attempts to chalk his side on the scoreboard.

Llangwm, whilst disjointed in their phased build up play drew the Haverfordwest defence line into conceding numerous penalties.

Time after time the visitors were guilty of being penalised for over running the offside line or holding in the tackle, with referee Davies warning skipper Alun Harries of his concern.

An outline of the Blue inability to master the referees requirement resulted in occasions where they were marched back 10m for verbally berating his decisions, where fifteen penalties were conceded in the first 25 minutes. From one such offence of not releasing the player in the tackle centre John was sin binned with his side leading 7-0, after he had converted a fine try by full back Ollie Hughes.

Davies had pushed a 25m drop out deep into the Llangwm half which saw home full back Steve Picton caught by hooker Ryan Palmer as he ran the ball back on 12 minutes. Second row Adam Williams picked up and drove on from the ruck, before a half break from scrum half Richard James saw Pindair break through two tackles on the crash ball. The Blues forwards quickly recycled the ball for Davies to put Hughes in space and he rounded the covering tackles wide out to score.

An impatient Haverfordwest prevented them delivering a much larger winning margin as they endeavoured to push boundaries in the aim of scoring from early phase possession. Coaches Bruce Evans and Simon Le Petit would have been frustrated with this lack of composure which saw promising attacking movements halted by handling errors.

With John out of the game following his tackle to stop home centre Josh Hicks strong run over 30m through the midfield, it did have the desired effect to settle their play into a composed rhythm.

This resulted in the second score of the half, an opening effort for Skudder who responded to James’ tap and go from a penalty following a scrum offence for pushing early by the home pack.

Ben Skudder: A hat trick of tries for the Blues

Davies accepted the ball from James feeding dynamic flanker Morgan Layton, who rumbled 15m upfield before Pindair’s quick hands put full back Hughes in space. He drew last man Picton with a beautiful timed pass to Skudder who raced over from 35m before Hughes slotted over the conversion in John’s absence.

Haverfordwest, buoyed by this second score when reduced to 14 men kept the same game plan causing Llangwm to miss tackles through Jack Griffiths, Hicks, Murphy and Picton which allowed Haverfordwest to dominate the territory as half time approached.

Back to full strength prop Ritchie Little was instrumental in setting a platform for Davies to dance over with five minutes of the half remaining, although John missed the simplest of his kicks to leave the half time score 19-0 in the Blues favour.

The second half started as the first had finished with the visitors on the front foot, although the game didn’t gain momentum with both packs at fault for ‘early engagement’ penalties which riled the partisan supporters of both camps.

Encounters between the two sides over the years have been feisty and the traditional ‘Bishop Cup’ fixtures on Boxing Day attracting four figures crowds revelling in their time out of the house during the Yule tide period. Banter at these games is second to none and both sides buy into the occasion and raise their game.

‘Harfat’ landed their bonus point try as the hour mark approached after Hicks was isolated in possession and the ball swiftly moved out to the hands of Davies and John for Pindair to put winger Rhys Baker over towards the play park corner for John to superbly convert, where he didn’t miss another kick all afternoon.

The versatile Hicks, playing at Centre having started the season as a second row was taking the game to the visitors, where the rest of the home side, second Row Ashley James and skipper James Lewis apart failed to respond. Hicks surprisingly lacked some football skills when leading the foot race with James as he was quickest to respond to his skipper and hooker Aled Morgans work on the ground.

The strong running centre did get his sides score on 65 minutes when a poor kick from Pindair was collected by number 8 Ian Griffiths who with his fellow back row of James Lewis, skipper and namesake, playing on permit from Whitland allowed Hicks some momentum in midfield. He left John and Skudder in his wake as he thundered over from 25m, with Picton missing the conversion.

The smarting Blues quickly regrouped after allowing their defences to be breached and two minutes later from a scrum, Davies and John combined to put Pindair into space and he broke a tackle from Gavin Jenkins to stroll in from 15m and the lead was 33-5.

With ten minutes remaining Skudder scored his second try after good work again by hooker Palmer on the floor ensured space was created wide out for Skudder to finish under the posts.

Home second row James again came to the fore, in his first game of the season to allow his side to gain territory from their limited possession, with the game drifting towards a mundane finish as fitness impacted on the skill level alongside the continual run of replacements.

The final score of the afternoon came with a minute of play remaining, after a mazy Baker run over 35m resulted in a Llangwm scrum as Josh Atherton was penalised for holding the ball.

The Blues pack managed to get ‘one against the head’ allowing skipper Harries to pick up from the base of the scrum, feeding the ball back inside to James to get a pass away to the ‘loitering’ Skudder who pinned back his ears over 20m for his hattrick and push the scoreboard over the 50 point mark.

Coaching gurus Evans and Le Petit were delighted with the win post-match, identifying the work rate of flanker Layton in the same breath as Skudder for his finishing and ball players Davies and Hughes for their awareness in getting the ball wide to players in space. “We didn’t want to get embroiled in a dog fight, which many of these local derbies can become” said Evans. “Our game plan was disrupted, maybe by the occasion as we weren’t willing to build the phases required to create the scoring opportunities.”

Related Topics:Haverfordwest Llangwm pembrokeshire Rugby

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National champions set for Lloyds Road Championships in Wales

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June 17, 2026

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SOME of Britain’s leading cyclists will head to Wales next week as the 2026 Lloyds National Road Championships get under way.

Sixteen former elite national road champions are among the riders named for the event, which begins in Lampeter on Thursday, June 25, before moving to Aberystwyth for the circuit race and road race.

Welsh rider Zoe Backstedt, of Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto, is expected to be one of the headline names after winning the elite women’s time-trial title at last year’s championships.

Backstedt said: “I’m super excited to come back to Wales to race national champs this year. I don’t get to race in the UK a lot, let alone in Wales, so that makes it even more exciting to be there.

“We’ve got such a strong roster of riders in the UK, so it’s never going to be easy, but I hope I’ll come into this in good shape and fighting for the win.”

Millie Couzens, of Fenix-Premier Tech, returns to defend her women’s road race title. She faces a strong field including three-time road national champion Pfeiffer Georgi, Morven Yeoman, Imogen Wolff, Cat Ferguson, Anna Henderson and Flora Perkins.

In the men’s road race, Sam Watson, of NetCompany Ineos, will look to retain his crown against a field including former national champion Ben Swift, reigning under-23 champion Matthew Brennan, Adam Howell and Ethan Hayter.

Hayter said: “Nationals always seem to bring out the best in me. I’ve managed to win a jersey in 2024 and 2025, so it would be nice to try to add another in the TT or RR.

“Each year the level gets higher, but it makes for aggressive, exciting racing.”

Cameron Mason will return to Aberystwyth to defend his open circuit race title, with Thomas Armstrong, Matt Bostock and Oliver Wood among those expected to challenge.

Kate Richardson also returns as defending women’s circuit race champion. She will be joined by a strong field including Isabel Sharp, Carys Lloyd, Xan Crees, Jenny Holl and Josie Knight.

A number of Welsh riders will also compete across the championships, including Finlay Tarling, Elynor Backstedt, Anna Morris, Owain Doull MBE and Megan Barker.

Erin Boothman, following a successful track season, will make her Lloyds National Road Championships debut in the women’s road race and under-23 women’s time-trial. Ben Wiggins will also return to Ceredigion as he looks to improve on last year’s silver medal in the under-23 men’s time-trial.

Ten national champions’ jerseys will be contested over three days of racing.

The time-trial takes place in Lampeter on Thursday, June 25. The elite women, under-23 women and under-23 men will race over 25.6km, while the elite men will cover 38.4km.

Aberystwyth will host the circuit race on Friday, June 26, and the road race on Sunday, June 28, giving spectators the chance to watch some of Britain’s best riders on Welsh roads.

The championships return to Wales with support from the Welsh Government.

Pic: Lloyds National Circuit Championship 2025 (Pic: SWPix.com)

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Young rally driver makes impressive gravel debut

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Herald Sport

EIGHTEEN-year-old Henri Cynwyl, of Newcastle Emlyn, marked a memorable milestone at the Plains Rally, Bala, as he made his gravel debut in the highly competitive Mini Rally Challenge.

Henri was driving the ex-championship-winning car previously campaigned by Tom Hynd, giving the young driver a strong platform on which to demonstrate his ability.

Family team

Sitting alongside him was his father, Dilwyn John, whose extensive experience in the co-driver’s seat proved invaluable throughout the demanding event.

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***Rally hopes: Henri will be aiming to build on his promising start (Pic: Aneurin James)***

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Strong foundations

The performance was even more notable given Henri’s limited gravel experience.

Having developed his car control skills through Teifi Valley Motor Club autotests from the age of 14, he was able to transfer much of that experience to the challenging Welsh forest stages.

Additional tuition on gravel from James Williams, of W1 Motorsport Group, also helped prepare him for the step up into rally competition on loose surfaces.

Reflecting on his debut, Henri said: “It was great and I enjoyed every minute of it. Taking part in Teifi Valley Motor Club autotests most definitely helped, along with tuition on gravel stages in the company of James Williams from W1 Motorsport Group.

“I’d also like to thank Mark Williams, my team manager, for all of the support and encouragement.”

Promising start

The successful gravel debut provides another encouraging chapter in the young driver’s development, with the pace, consistency and maturity shown throughout the day suggesting plenty more potential to come.

Henri now switches back to tarmac this weekend as he continues his busy season at the Park Garage Rally in Anglesey, aiming to build on the confidence gained from an impressive first appearance on gravel.

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With a strong first result under his belt, and plenty of lessons learned from the Plains Rally, Henri will be aiming to build on his promising start when the championship heads north.

Sport

Rowers conquer gruelling 22-mile Cleddau challenge

Published

3 days ago

June 15, 2026

Herald Sport

Crews from across the UK battle tides, headwinds and the Haven to finish marathon race at Haverfordwest River Festival

ROWERS from across the United Kingdom descended on Pembrokeshire at the weekend to take part in one of Wales’ toughest coastal rowing challenges — the 22-mile Cleddau River Marathon Row from Dale to Haverfordwest.

Held as part of the annual Haverfordwest River Festival on Saturday (Jun 13), the spectacular endurance race saw around 25 crews line up on the shoreline at Dale for a dramatic beach start before battling the tides, currents and changing weather conditions along the Milford Haven Waterway.

With calm waters and blue skies greeting competitors at the start, crews launched from Dale Bay at around 2:30pm and powered into the Haven, navigating a route that took them past Milford Haven, Neyland and Pembroke Dock before passing beneath the Cleddau Bridge and tackling the winding upper reaches of the river toward Haverfordwest.

However, conditions became more testing as the race progressed, with the tide turning against competitors and a headwind adding to the challenge during the final push upstream.

The marathon row was organised by Helen Heaton and Llangwm Rowing Club, with staggered starts helping ensure crews arrived in Haverfordwest in time for the celebrations at the River Festival.

At the finish line in Haverfordwest, exhausted rowers were greeted by cheering crowds, family members and councillors, who helped crews bring their boats ashore before an evening of celebrations and prize-giving at HaverHub.

The event drew teams from across Wales and further afield, highlighting Pembrokeshire’s growing reputation as a destination for competitive coastal rowing. The marathon route, stretching approximately 22 miles from Dale to the county town, is regarded as one of the more demanding fixtures in the Welsh sea rowing calendar.

Video crews and drone operators captured the action throughout the day, with local media teams filming both from shore and on the water.

The race was sponsored by Dale Sailing, with video sponsorship support from Pembrokeshire Powerboating and Sailing Academy.

The Herald understands the Wasps of Llangwm crew took top honours in the demanding race after a hard-fought contest on the water.

Photo caption:

Marathon effort: Crews from across the UK battled tides and headwinds during the 22-mile Cleddau River Marathon Row from Dale to Haverfordwest