IN SPITE of a bright opening against Aberaeron, Quins came unstuck away to the Ceredigion side who turned in a powerful performance.
The first of five tries for the homesters came after 12 minutes.
A series of rolling mauls gained the initial territory and a quick release by Number eight Tudur Jenkins from a five-yard scrum gave scrum-half Gareth James the room to bulldoze over the line.
Aberaeron out-half Rhodri Jenkins missed the conversion but, after their opening score, Aberaeron never looked in trouble
The Quins were up against it, but manfully stuck to the task.
Outstanding young 2nd Row Ben Gibby stole a home line-out on the Quins 25, but the Quins failed to clear their lines.
The Aberaeron pack capitalised on the error and produced a strong display of phase play to work an opening. Full-back Morgan Llewellyn ran on to a perfectly timed pass to score close to the posts.
This time Rhodri Jenkins made no mistake and put Aberaeron into a 12 point lead.
That was the end of the scoring for the first half.
While the Quins tried to assert themselves and make up the deficit, some loose play cost them scoring opportunities. That is not to understate the influence of Aberaeron’s defence, which showed grit and skill in shutting down the visitors’ efforts to squeeze back into the game.
As the second half started, the Quins desperately needed some kind of score.
They started well again but could not penetrate a resolute defence. Rhodri Jenkins’ shrewd kicking game relieved the pressure on Aberaeron and the gains made in territory from the out-half’s boot began to tell.
Aberaeron piled the pressure on through their pack and with thrusting back play from the fringes to gain territory. The Quins repelled any number of efforts before home centre Dafydd Llewelyn managed to squeeze over the line. A shovelled conversion, reminiscent of Scotland number eight Peter Brown, extended the home side’s lead to nineteen points.
Faced with a mountain to climb, the Quins put the pedal to the metal and blazed forward with a series of powerful runs from Dai Moseley, Jack Price, and Hywel Baker. They gave Aberaeron plenty to think about as the Quins’ power and physicality took its toll on the home side.
Against the run of play, the Quins conceded a nightmare try.
Home number ten Rhodri Jenkins spotted a gap in the defence at the halfway line and set off at speed. The Quins missed a series to tackles, an unusual turn of events this season, and Jenkins scythed through to touch down.
The bonus point secure, Aberaeron continued to press against a rugged Quins defence.
With the last move of the match, home number eight Tudor Jenkins scored in the Corner. Rhodri Jenkins missed the Conversion.
The Quins were unlucky to lose by such a wide margin but Aberaeron will now look forward to continuing their scintillating cup run in the WRU Specsavers Cup. First, though, it’s a double-header against local rivals Tregaron.
For the Quins, back-to-back defeats will be hard to take, especially as in both games they had to claw their way back in from poor starts. Their next game isn’t until February 25 at Bierspool, where they will host second-placed St Clears.
Quins Team. Kieron Machin, Jordan Asparassa, Jack Price (Capt), Josh Thomas, Josh Brown, Tyler Castle, Elliot Lewis, Jack Davies, Nick Drewett, Dai Moseley, Ben Gibby, Mark Van Rhyn, Marcus Phillips, Hywel Baker, and Paul Busby.
Replacements: Rhys Marchant, Ben Hathaway, and Martin Culley.
