Fixture

On Sunday afternoon in horrific weather conditions, Burry Port Ladies headed to league rivals Bonymaen in the opening round of the Bowl. The hosts were certainly the team to beat this season as they haven't lost a game all season – until now.

Before the match started, both teams lined up together for a minutes silence to remember Elli Norkett, a Wales Ladies player who sadly passed away in a tragic car accident.

The Lady Blacks came out of the blocks racing as they were determined to prove a point and spent the first twenty minutes of the game camped in and around the Bonymaen 22. The blacks came close to breaking the deadlock on a number of occasions throughout the half but were denied by some good defence and some handling errors in slippery conditions.

After some good defensive work in their own half the blacks worked extremely hard and utilised the strength of forwards and backs alike to work their way up field and eventually scrum half Keely Evans gathered the ball and was able to cross the line to score the first and only points of the game on the stroke of half time.

In the second half, Burry Port knew they needed to play with the same intensity as they did in the first, and that is exactly what they did. They spent most of the half retaining good possession of the ball and making hard yards up field. They came close to scoring on a number of occasions but were held out. In the last ten minutes of the game, the ladies were faced with a lot of scrums, which they were more than happy with as they were very strong in the scrum and this helped to run the clock down. In the last play of the game, openside flanker and player of the match Betsan Ellis-Williams booted the ball off the field as the lady blacks celebrated a big cup win.

The coaches were very pleased with the way the ladies reacted to the challenge of unbeaten Bonymaen, in particular the way the ladies defended when needed, and retained possession of the ball. The Lady Blacks now have a quarter final to look forward to.

Player of the match: Betsan Ellis-Williams