Neath 48 Llandovery 13 Principality Premiership LLANDOVERY slipped to another defeat on Saturday, this time to an Arwel Thomas-inspired Neath.

Thomas controlled the game showing a wide range of skills and a personal tally of 16 points from a try, four conversions and a penalty.

He completely over-shadowed Drovers prolific points scorer Jon Elrick who had few opportunities to kick at goal and was unable to make an impression on the excellent defence of the home team.

There were few indications of high scoring to come as Llandovery remained competitive and in the game for the first hour.

Both sides used the ideal conditions at the Gnoll to spread the ball wide and there was plenty of flowing attractive rugby to entertain the crowd.

Using this approach to the game both sides made errors for the opposition to latch onto and the game moved rapidly from end to end.

Half an hour of play had taken place before the first try was scored by Gerwyn Price, during which time Jon Elrick and Arwel Thomas had both converted penalties.

The Arwel Thomas show continued for the rest of the half when firstly he threw a dummy to scatter the midfield defence and sprinted in under the posts for a try which he then converted.

A few minutes later the defence made a hash of gathering a Thomas chip ahead and wing Neil Clapham was on hand to put the home side 22-3 ahead.

On the stroke of half time Llandovery pulled seven points back with the best try of the game.

The ball was moved wide to teenage Gruffydd Jones, making his first start for the Drovers having transferred from Carmarthen Quins.

Receiving the ball near half way and showing tremendous pace the win scooted round his opposite number, completely flat footed full back Gareth King and touched down under the posts for a widely applauded try.

At this stage it was anybody's game and when Elrick struck a second penalty to draw the Drovers even closer there was still plenty of time to snatch the game.

However it was weak defence which once again undid the Drovers efforts.

Wing Kevin James cut back in-field and went on an arcing run through a pack of defenders to touch down wide out and further increase the points difference between the teams.

With the usual mass of substitutions taking place around the hour mark the home side seemed to get stronger whilst the Drovers efforts fell off badly as Neath ran up a further 21 points.

This defeat leaves Llandovery anchored at the bottom of the Principality Premiership but one ray of hope for their survival against relegation lies in that five of their remaining games are against sides in the lower half of the table.

There can be no more slip-ups against these teams if they are to gather enough points to maintain their status in the top flight of Welsh club rugby.