Llangwm beat Pembroke Dock 22-5 in Division Three West A

It was never going to be pretty at Bierspool, and so it proved as two second half tries from No 8 Josh Hicks helped Llangwm to a scrappy win over Pembroke Dock Harlequins.

It meant a second league win of the season for The Wasps, and a seventh straight defeat for The Quins who were again hit by a number of late withdrawals.

The opening stages set the tone as the visitors got in the ascendancy, but despite Hicks and returning centre Robbie Neil regularly getting them on the front foot, their handling let them down in attack.

But they took the lead midway through the half with an opportunist effort from flanker Ashley James, who intercepted a pass on half way and had enough pace to reach the corner.

The Quins responded as winger Liam Smith went on a charging run down the left touchline, but he unluckily knocked on as he went to ground - before Llangwm had a chance from a counter attack of their own but Jonathan Lloyd's chip ahead drifted into touch on the full.

The visitors again threatened before the break but in tough handling conditions, winger Joe Lewin failed to gather Louis Murphy's long pass with the Quins stretched out wide.

But early in the second half The Wasps did strike, albeit in bizarre fashion as Hicks opted to chip when 20 metres from the line, but it came off as he then hacked the loose ball to the posts and won the race to the touchdown. Full back Luke Hayman converted.

But The Quins were given a foothold from their best player over the 80 minutes, Hywel Baker, as they opted to run a close range penalty and the No 8 took a pop pass off young scrum half Josh Brown to go over by the corner flag.

That brought it back to 12-5 but it was then that Hicks provided the game's best moment, picking up from a scrum on halfway and shrugging off a number of tackles to go under the posts, again leaving Hayman with an easy conversion.

As the weather worsened, the final quarter was stagnated with most of the play confined to around the half way line, although strangely, with the game seemingly won Llangwm twice opted at penalty kicks at goal as opposed to field position and a tilt at a try bonus point.

Hayman landed one of them and regardless, it was a welcome win on the road for The Wasps.

Weather rains supreme:

When you're playing in condtions like today, you want a win not a classic.

On that front Llangwm will be happy enough. They made errors in attack and there will be tinges of disappointment at no fourth try, but it's a result Bruce Evans and co would have taken this morning.

As for The Quins, Neil Machin is a positive character and will see the benefit of throwing youngsters into the mix. But he needs his strongest side out if his side are to get wins and move up the table. It's been a tough period for the club, but while it sounds so generic, they now have to hang in there and keep going until the results come. 

As expected given what was riding on it, both teams gave their all in poor conditions. Regardless of the quality of the spectacle, I always find something heartening in seeing two sides at the lower end of the scale of Welsh rugby doing that.

Man of the match: Josh Hicks.

Last season, Hicks was Llangwm's stand out performer and he's picked up where he left off in this campaign. 

Whether it be from the base of the scrum or from open play, he rarely failed to cross the gain line and his second half try was a great show of power and pace. His first on the other hand, was a bloody fluke but I guess any forward who scores from a chip and chase is entitled to boast about it.

But on a serious note, he remains a pivotal player for The Wasps.

Pembroke Dock Harelquins: Ben Gibby, Dan Donovan, Henry Lawrence, Jack Brown, Liam Smith, Aaron Cookson, Josh Brown, Darren Potter, Jordan Palmer, George Belmaine, Martin Culley, Sam James, Liam Scourfield, Nick Drewett, Liam Scourfield. Replacements: Will Nicot, Ben Hathaway, Gary Burns.

Llangwm: Luke Hayman, Iwan Griffiths, Louis Murphy, Robbie Neill, Joe Lewin, Jonathan Lloyd, Ian Griffiths, Ieuan Power, Gethin Thomas, Gavin Jones, David Reynolds, Criag Grice, James Lewis, Ashley James, Josh Hicks. Replacements: Jojo Francis, Dan Hughes, Steven Rees, Dan Morgan, Spencer Rourke.