WRU National League Division 3 West Saturday 19th April 2008
Aberystwyth 39pts
Aberystwyth’s last home match of the season was an eagerly awaited local derby against Newcastle Emlyn and the seven tries it produced did not disappoint. The first encounter between the sides this season had taken place a few short weeks ago, a mid week tussle at Dol Wiber after the disruptions of the pre-Christmas weather. In that match Aber had come through on top, despite the home side’s last minute penalty try closing the gap to 4 points.
That surge continued on Saturday as
The home side struggled to get into rhythm and were further frustrated when injury forced flanker Jason Rees to leave the field after 15 minutes leaving his side with a makeshift-looking back unit. They stuck to their task however and were rewarded in the 23rd minute when flanker Llŷr ap Hywel half broke through, feeding lock Arwel Lloyd to score in the left corner. Within two minutes Emlyn had struck back with a Daniel Davies penalty, but few would have predicted at that time that that would be the visitors’ last score of the afternoon.
Home full back Aled Sweeney levelled the scores just before the half hour with an excellently struck 28 metre penalty 8 metres from touch and Newcastle Emlyn’s demise continued as the Aber pack gradually showed their superiority. A series of scrums took the Aber pack within sight of the Emlyn line and when number eight Iestyn Jones was stopped short, prop John Jones used his experience and guile to carry the ball over and take his side into the lead. Sweeney’s conversion gave his side a 15-8 lead that persisted to the interval.
The pressure from the aber pack intensified after the restart as they took up residency inside the visitors’ 22. They were kept out for 12 minutes or so but the defence finally cracked when home prop Geraint Rowlands forced his way over for a try. When Iestyn Jones crossed himself a few minutes later and Sweeney landed a superb conversion from 7 metres inside the touchline, Aber were 27-8 up and the match was over as a contest. Aber’s dominance, especially up front, continued but the NCE defence managed to thwart further advances. Newcastle Emlyn suffered a big blow in the 24th minute when replacement prop Darrel Pugh’s transgressions saw Birchgrove referee Colin Kirkhouse reach for his yellow card; further dissent however upgraded that to a red card and the visitors were down to 14 men for the last quarter of the game.
The effect did not give Aberystwyth full advantage however as it caused the match to move into passive scrimmaging and the home side instantly lost the physical dominance they had been building up in the scrums. The home side did however add two more tries to their total, the first of these in the 75th minute when centre Paul Stubbs crossed for a characteristic try using his strength and natural skills. Four minutes on a run by right wing Bryn Evans gained a full 20 metres before feeding Sweeney via left wing Steve Brown. Sweeney worked his way well through the defence before passing on to his skipper Gwion James to cross for his side’s sixth try.
This bonus point win takes Aber’s League total to 64 points, sadly a few short of that needed to progress to the end of season playoffs. There are two matches left to play, both away, at Llanelli Wanderers and at Haverfordwest in the next week or so.
Aberystwyth Club minds are at the moment rather weighed down however with the news on Sunday evening that their team mate Aled Evans had lost his fight for life following a tragic work accident. Aled (Al Gog) Evans had enamoured himself to playing colleagues and supporters alike at Plascrug with his gentle, relaxed nature and the quality and passion of his play at flanker for the first team over the past few seasons. Although Al’s work had taken him away from appearing in light and dark blue colours in recent weeks, his loss is profound and very deeply felt. Aled’s original Club Dolgellau will of course be affected in the same way but Aberystwyth Rugby Club, his ”second home”, has lost a true Clubman.
Alan Jones