THERE will be no quarter given when local rivals Abergavenny Quins and Crickhowell line up against each other on Wednesday night (April 26, kick-off 7pm) at Pontypool United RFC in the Ivor Jones Cup final.

Quins made it through 36-19 away to Blaenavon Forgeside in their midweek match, while Crickhowell beat Monmouth Druids 23-16 away.

Blaenavon Forgeside 19 
Abergavenny Quins 36

Abergavenny began the game with the intention of playing a high tempo game, with good ball spread wide through the three-quarters, reports COLIN EVANS.

Will Williams soon found a hole in the Forgeside defense and put Ieuan J Evans into space.

Recycled ball then found Evans who went over for the opening try, converted by Dan Haymond.

Quick ball soon after found Evans again, who was proving a handful for the Forgeside defence, who burst through and ran in Abergavenny’s second try for a 12-0 lead.

A further penalty from Dan Haymond extended the advantage before Forgeside had a sustained period of possession.

Their forwards took the ball up close to the Abergavenny line before driving over for their opening try (15-7).

Quins were soon on the attack again though, a flowing three-quarter move putting Williams through a gap to sprint away and run in Abergavenny’s third try, converted by Dan Haymond for a half-time score of Forgeside 7 Quins 22.

The second half began with Haymond converting a penalty to extend the Abergavenny lead.

Forgeside were straight back on the attack though, a three-quarter move sending their winger over in the corner for their second try, closing the score to 25-12.

Zak Main, Morgan West-Jones and Kevin Palmer were then introduced into the game.

A Haymond penalty extended the lead before Dayle Price took a high ball and weaved his way through the Forgeside cover to score a popular try to extend the lead to 33-12.

Further substitutes in James Roberts, Tom Rees, Ryan Symonds were introduced.

A Forgeside try near the end of the game reduced the deficit, but the final action was left to Haymond who converted a penalty to leave the final score at Forgeside 19 Abergavenny Quins 36.

Quins’ starting XV were Dylan Smith, Oscar Greenland, Rob Lothian, Dan Anstey, Kyle Skinner, Harry Walbyoff, Dan Beavan and James Trumper in the forwards, and Rhys Ferguson, Dan Haymond, Ieuan T Evans, Ieuan J Evans, Will Williams, Nathan Mason and Dayle Price in the backs.

Monmouth Druids 16 
Crickhowell Rugby 23

The Ivor Jones semi-final at Monmouth’s Sports Ground encounter had all the hallmarks of a classic cup game, reports MAL POWELL.

Both sides gave their all, running rugby was the order of the day and the lead changed hands several times to make it a real thriller.

Crickhowell took an early lead after Lewis Evans slotted over a penalty awarded for offside. Monmouth then had the opportunity to level the scores shortly afterwards but were unlucky in their attempt.

The hosts then had a period where they dominated possession and were rewarded with another penalty, converted by Rhys Evans, leaving it 3-3 at the break.

After the restart Crickhowell took the lead again after an elusive run from Harry Summers following a break by Lewis Evans, who then added the conversion (10-3).

Both sides put in great defensive efforts and Crickhowell did well to counter the larger Monmouth pack. It was their power, however, that led to them forcing their driving maul over the line, only to knock on.

But the hosts were then awarded another penalty after handling in the ruck and Rhys Evans cut the deficit to 6-10.

They then took the lead after securing the ball at the line-out and some slick handling saw Kester Mobbs Morgan cross the whitewash before Evans added the conversion (13-10).

Crick were then rewarded with another penalty at the breakdown which Lewis Evans punted high and gained the points by the narrowest of margins (13-13).

He gained another not long afterwards but, not be outdone, Monmouth hit back with a penalty to make it 16-16.

With extra-time looming, a searing break by Tom Young was halted but not before he passed the ball to Will Bevan, who cut inside and raced through the gap to score the winning try, which was once again ably converted by Evans.

The high standard of the officials greatly enhanced the game, watched by a decent crowd.