Routed Reivers no match for slick Swansea

Swansea 47 - Edinburgh Reivers 24 THE poor away record of the Scottish pro teams in the Celtic League was underlined again yesterday when the Reivers succumbed to Swansea at St Helens.

Edinburgh had travelled south hopeful of reversing the depressing trend after a midweek success against Ebbw Vale - but they couldn't recover from the leakage of two tries late in the first half.

Reivers arrived with only three away wins, but in those 10 outings they had scored the impressive tally of 31 tries. And that sort of adventure was evident in the early exchanges with the Welsh Cup holders, who will defend their trophy against Llanelli in three weeks' time.

But the positive approach can also create problems - and in just the second minute Reivers were caught out trying to counter-attack from deep.

Test full-back Chris Paterson failed to release the ball quickly enough after being tackled, allowing fly-half Arwel Thomas to open Swansea's account with a penalty.

Despite the setback, Reivers continued to give the ball plenty of air with flanker Graham Dall outstanding. He actually crossed the All Whites' line, but referee Nigel Whitehouse ruled he had illegally "crossed" with winger Conan Sharman.

Swansea stepped up the pace again as back-row Paul Moriarty was blocked five metres short, then wing Matthew Robinson halted close to the target.

Veteran Moriarty was in the thick of it again - but this time for the wrong reasons - and was sent to the sin bin by referee Whitehouse for a late tackle on Graeme Burns.

While Swansea were down to 14 men, Reivers hit back with a sparkling try. Sharman broke down the right flank and forced Colin Charvis to make the tackle. He sent a pass to Paterson, who raced over unopposed from 30 metres out. Gordon Ross added the conversion to the 29th minute try, but Edin-burgh's lead was short-lived.

Two penalty goals from Thomas in as many minutes, the second from long range, took Swansea back in front - and they finished the half with a real flourish.

Hooker Chris Wells made the most of some weak Reivers tackling to cross for their first try in the 37th minute, Thomas converted, then added the extra points to their second score.

Swansea made the most of an attacking scrum, moving the ball to the right for centre Mark Taylor to plough through.

The Welshmen's flurry of points late in the first period changed the whole face of the contest, leaving Reivers a mountain to climb - though the All Whites had October's 34-31 defeat in Edinburgh to remind them of the dangers the visitors could pose.

Ross reduced the deficit with a penalty eight minutes after the restart and although play swung from end to end, Swansea had the sharper cutting edge.

Their third try came after 50 minutes, flanker Charvis bursting through two attempted tackles to charge over, Thomas adding the conversion.

Wells notched up his second and Swansea's fourth touchdown to snuff out any fightback hopes.

They went even further ahead when wing Richard Rees cashed in on a Thomas break, though Reivers showed tremendous character in making a real fight of matters.

Paterson raced over for his second try of the match, taking an inside pass after a running penalty. Ross converted before lock Iain Fullarton gave them further reward for their adventure with another try four minutes from the end.

Ross again added the extra points, but Swansea had the last word, substitute Alex Lawson goaling Robinson's breakaway score.

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