Richard Merriman survived an off on Pembrey’s infamous Beach Road to finish the Fairfield Merlin Stages Rally in fifth place and clinch the J.D. Tyres Welsh National Tarmacadam Championship title for a third time. Co-driven by Kath Curzon, the Pontypridd driver had been third after the opening stage, but eased off after his near miss to ensure his Roof Hub, Touchline, Gareth Swan Roofing-backed Vauxhall-engined Darrian T90 reached the finish in one piece. “We came here with the championship title in mind and to just have a safe day and pick up points,” said Merriman. “We were doing well after the first stage and were third overall, but then got a little bit too excited and ended up going off on Beach Road. We decided to ease off after that, go back to the original plan and get the car home in one piece to secure the title, which we did. It’s our first season back in the car after an accident three years ago, so to come away with the Welsh title is fantastic. I couldn’t be happier.”

John Mulvilhill admitted Cardiff Blues “let themselves down” as an error-strewn defeat at home to Glasgow Warriors punctured the early optimism of their Heineken Champions Cup campaign. Just a week after their impressive win over Lyon in France, the Blues flopped in front of their own fans – losing 29-12 at the Arms Park. The result leaves the Blues already struggling to qualify for the knockout stages after just two rounds.

Becky Morgan became the latest leading Welsh women’s golfer to taste success as she ended 18 years of waiting for her first professional victory with a two shot triumph at the Hero Women’s Indian Open in Gurugram. Hot on the heels of Amy Boulden finishing joint first at the Q2 Series in Florida to earn her place in the final qualifying round to shoot for an American Tour Card, the 44-year-old Morgan finally cracked her tournament duck as she held her nerve on the final day to win £65,000. After rounds of 72, 72 and 68 she went into the final round tied in the lead with Ellie Givens and Nicole Broch Larsen. A birdie on the third hole gave her the advantage and she built up a two-shot cushion at the next hole with another.

Tom Matthews vowed to return and strike gold after bagging a brilliant bronze on his World Para Table Tennis Championships debut in Slovenia. The Aberdare player put up a huge battle in his semi-final against World number one Young Dae Joo and took the first set against the Korean who was the silver medallist when Brecon’s Rob Davies struck gold at the Paras in Rio two years ago..

Justin Faryna returned to action for Cardiff Devils in their 7-1 Elite League ice hockey win against Sheffield Steelers. Devils powered to victory with Charles Linglet and Gleason Fournier scoring two goals each and head coach Andrew Lord said: “We’ve missed him for the best part of five weeks and it’s great to see him […]

There will be a ‘Magnificent Seven’ Welsh athletes taking part in the Invictus Games in Australia this week and Cardiff Army veteran Mark Perkins has been handed the honour of captaining the 72-strong British team. Prince Harry formally opened the Games in Sydney on Saturday and now it is over to the athletes to amaze the sporting world with their performances. For the former Royal Signals Corporal, Perkins, it will be a chance to prove there is still life and success after injury.

There was an air of inevitability about Tammy Abraham being the match-winner against Swansea City, but the club’s former loan striker was told he should have heaped far more misery on them. Abraham scored the only goal of the game as the Swans lost away at Aston Villa. The young England striker – who scored eight times in 41 appearances for the Swans last season – should have had a hat-trick on Saturday, however, according to his new manager Dean Smith.

Tesni Evans was left gutted after bowing out of the Carol Weymuller Open in New York despite taking a two set lead. The Rhyl-based player looked to be heading for another semi-final appearance in the United States after winning the first two sets 12-10, 11-6 against Salma Hany.

Rob Lainton has proved a major success for Wrexham in Vanarama National League and Emirates FA Cup. The ex-Bolton, Burton, Cheltenham and Port Vale goalkeeper, has kept 11 clean sheets for Wrexham already this season. His latest shutout came against Harrogate Town in the cup when Wrexham earned a replay at their Racecourse home on […]

Goals from Dan Griffiths and Isaak Davies earned Cardiff City an away win in their Professional Development Under-18 League match at Charlton Athletic. The young Bluebirds hit back from a goal down to earn the win at Charlton and defender Ben Margetson tweeted: “Class win from the boys. Great to get back to winning ways.” […]

The feelgood factor at Cardiff City Stadium had to be experienced to be believed after the Bluebirds’ 4-2 home win against Fulham. Fans, players, staff and manager Neil Warnock were overjoyed by their first win of the Premier League season. The Yorkshireman will be able to sit back and relax at his Southerndown apartment near […]

Former Swansea City player Owain Jones has left Nuneaton Borough and rejoined Merthyr Town. Jones, who started his playing days with Pontardawe Town Juniors, signed for the Swans at 10-years-old, while he has also played for Yeovil Town. He joined Nuneaton from the Martyrs on a two-year contract in the summer of 2018 and returned […]

Wrexham are intent on Emirates FA Cup progress this afternoon when they take on Harrogate Town at the Wetherby Road stadium. The Dragons travel to Yorkshire aiming to earn a place in the first round, having earned a goalless draw against their Vanarama National League rivals earlier this season. Harrogate include former Newport County striker […]

Lauren Williams captured GB Taekwondo’s first gold medal of the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Manchester. The Blackwood battler avenged her defeat to Croatia’s Matea Jelic at the Moscow GP earlier this year with victory in the -67Kg final.

Tesni Evans has booked a quarter-final spot at the Carol Meymuller Open with a convincing win in New York. The Rhyl-based player, seeded four for the Brooklyn event, took 49 minutes to dispatch Zeina Mickawy.

Welshman Gordon Davies believes Fulham can stay in the Premier League this season, while bottom three Cardiff City, Newcastle United and Huddersfield go down. Former Fulham goalscorer Davies, who started his playing career with home town club Merthyr Tydfil, says: “We are effectively in a 12-team mini league and have to finish above the bottom […]

Scarlets A will be crowned champions of the inaugural Celtic Cup if they can inflict revenge on Leinster A at Parc Y Scarlets tomorrow (KO 4pm) The West Walians were beaten 16-10 in their own backyard by Leinster’s development side last month, but this time around they have summer signing Clayton Blommetjies amongst their ranks as they go for glory against the unbeaten Irish province.

Wayne Pivac sounded like a man with a realistic assessment of whether or not lightning will strike twice to spark the Scarlets’ European cause. The head coach had seen his side beaten 45-27 at Leicester Tigers on Friday night, their second successive defeat in the Heineken Champions Cup following their home loss to Racing 92. Last year, the Scarlets produced a minor miracle in recovering from an identical start to go all the way to the semi-finals, but Pivac knows a crucial factor a year ago was the collection of two losing bonus points at this stage, compared to this campaign’s one.

Tom Matthews produced an epic comeback to reach the semi-finals of the World Para Table Tennis Championships in Slovenia. The Aberdare ace lost the first two sets to Italy’s Federico Falco in their quarter-final class in the men’s one category.

Joel Makin’s storming run at the St George’s Classic in Surrey was ended in a quarter-final defeat.