WRU Asda National League Division 3 West Saturday 1st September 2007
Aberystwyth 19pts Pembroke Dock Harlequins 11
The first match of any campaign always has its difficulties; for the home side this had the added problems of fielding a side against the backdrop of a player’s wedding taking out some core players. Pembroke Dock had refused a request to postpone the match so, as they say, the show had to go on, and Aberystwyth’s new Director of Rugby Brian Isaac certainly had his work cut out in assembling a side, drawing significantly on last year’s Youth contingent.
Despite relative inexperiences however, those players gave their all from the start and spectators, and the Pembroke Dock team, would have had no illusions about their total commitment, exuberance and skill.
Early territorial advantage went to the home side, but the Dock quelled the fervour and were rewarded on their first incursion into Aber territory, number eight Scourfield slotting a penalty from 25 metres in the 8th minute. Immediately after the restart however the visitors’ own transgressions just inside their half led to a majestic 45 metre penalty from Aber’s fly half Gwilym Evans, emphasising why Llandovery have signed him as a dually registered player this year. The visitors had had no chance to recover from that when Aber spun the ball out to the left from a midfield maul and when young flanker Gareth Flynn took the ball near the touchline, a hand-off, a jink and a sidestep in his 35 metre run beat the defences for a superb try in the corner. Another impressive kick from the touchline by Evans made the score 10-3 in Aber’s favour after 14 minutes of play. The rest of the first half saw end-to-end exchanges the teams matching each other in defence with neither yielding. An exchange of penalties by Evans and Scourfield in the 38th and 40th minutes brought the half to a close with a 13-6 advantage to the home side.
The young Aberystwyth side started the second half particularly strongly and they should have gone ahead when Evans gave chase to his chip over the final defence in the 8th minute. His unceremonious and brutal upending however changed the course and temper of the match. Players from both sides lost their cool in the aftermath of this, and two players, one from each side left the field following an off-the-ball exchange; the visitors saw the yellow card flashed for fighting, but Aberystwyth saw red for an alleged attempted headbutt. When play restarted with the penalty for the very late tackle, the incident had clearly affected Evans’s kicking form but it also unsettled the side and the more experienced visitors took advantage. Within minutes they had closed the gap in the scores when replacement flanker Pat Russell crossed in the corner to bring them back to 13-11. To their great credit the Aberystwyth team, ably led by acting skipper Paul Stubbs, regained their composure and within five minutes had put three more points between them and their opponents with another Evans penalty from 35 metres.
Pembroke Dock gave their all to try and break the Aber defence but the home resolution held firm. The Dock equally quashed any Aber breakaway, and the scoreboard remained static. It was a hard fought contest and Aber were helped in the 30th minute when the Dock were again shown a yellow card for punching. With time added on for stoppages however, Burry Port referee stretched the second half to 51 minutes and the only remaining score was a fourth Gwilym Evans penalty that turned out to be the last kick of the match. In the new scoring system that also put the visitors eight points behind, thus depriving them of a bonus point while Aberystwyth pick up 4 League points.
This was a significant Aberystwyth performance and speaks volumes for the rugby structure at Plascrug that centre Rhys Morgan, hooker Rhun Morgan and back row men Flynn and Lee Gower could step up so seamlessly from last year’s Youth team, along with replacements Iolo Davies and Caleb Spencer. Along with Athletic XV regulars Richard Philips, Tom Evans and Alan Blake, Llyr Garner on permit from Tregaron and wing Matthew Green in only his third start for the 1st XV, these players joined only six of last year’s regulars. The result was an impressive performance and an important win.
The League campaign continues with a visit to Lampeter next Saturday and the Aber selectors will have some pondering to do ahead of that.
Alan Jones