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The result was a little harsh in terms of points against a Porthcawl side missing a number of regulars yet having said that, Celtic were a very well-drilled and useful side, fully deserving of taking the spoils in a keenly contested match.
Celtic took advantage of Porthcawl taking a while to settle with some cohesive forward play yet it was the home side that took the lead when scrum-half Tom Davies slotted a 24 metre penalty and 3-0.
Shortly afterwards Scott Sainsbury kicked a levelling penalty for Celtic before another soft penalty given away by the Seaweeds put Celtic ahead, again the boot of Sainsbury making good the chance.
Davies himself was back at it 5 minutes later when he put Porthcawl ahead once more, his snipe from close in and very smart try under the posts, which he also converted, making it 10-6.
The Porthcawl scrum was under some pressure for much of the time and Celtic capitalised by securing a penalty try and the seven points put them ahead at half-time, at 10-13.
Celtic’s well-rehearsed driving forward play was to the fore again shortly after the break when a lineout catch and drive resulted in a corner try, any of 3 forwards with their hands on the ball and Sainsbury’s conversion added the extras for 10-20 and an uphill climb for Porthcawl to ascend.
Jack Robbins came on for Davies who moved to outside-half but the change in fortunes didn’t materialise as Celtic effectively put the result out of reach as an almost identical driving forward try at the corner, complemented by Sainsbury’s marvellous conversion off touch made it 10-27.
Tim Lunn’s entry to proceedings following a long injury lay-off shored up the scrum at loose-head for Porthcawl somewhat and now it was the turn of the Porthcawl eight to utilise the forward drive from a lineout, with second row Wil Robinson grabbing the try, converted by Davies for 17-27, still some way to go with time becoming short.
As the Seaweeds chased the game around halfway, the ball went loose and was snapped up by Celtic, who moved the possession wide for centre Sam Mines to sell a great dummy and cut through with the overlap for the clinching score, a fine try again goaled by Sainsbury for 17-34 at the close.
Porthcawl will need all available hands on board, especially upfront, when they make a tricky visit to unpredictable Morriston on Saturday, hoping to get back on track by repeating last season’s away victory.