WRU National League Division 3 West 10^th November 2007

Amman United 35pts Aberystwyth 20

At 2.20 on Saturday afternoon two teams were nearing the end of their warm-ups, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the referee. A telephone call revealed that Mr Phil Evans of Pencoed had in fact arrived an hour before kick-off and that he too was ready for the afternoon’s action. Unfortunately Mr Evans had made his way to Ammanford RFC five miles from the

Their play was littered with unforced errors and poor tactical play; the home side on the other hand played a very simple game, but played it well, and secured only their second league win, claiming a bonus point to boot for their four tries. Their back play was openly geared to freeing a young, speedy, lanky left wing, and he duly scored three of their tries, the ball getting to him far more often than it should helped by a lack of desire by the visitors to keep play away from his direction. The young man concerned, one Jamie Davies, is one of a number of local players who have come through Amman’s Youth system, from whence once emerged no less than Shane Williams.

His very early attempts were thwarted, but Aber’s proneness to unforced errors was exemplified in a resulting 22 dropout in the 11^th minute. Men offside gave Amman the advantage and a subsequent penalty gave another home youngster, fly half Rhys Thomas, the easiest of chances to open the scoring account from 20 metres. Four minutes later however Aber wing Gwilym Evans continued his recent good form with his boot, slotting a 35 metre penalty from wide out to level the scores. The opportunity had come from a display of what Aber were really capable of. A positive restart after the opening score saw the Aber eight execute a controlled drive upfield, forcing the penalty, but such episodes were few and far between.

With most of the first half played deep in Aber territory, Amman had several chances in the next period, but the game became frustrating to watch as both sides erred unnecessarily, and shrill whistle blasts penalised technical offences. A 26^th minute decision taking play back considerably when Aber were adjudged not to be binding at a scrum gave Thomas a long range shot, and he duly slotted a 45 metre effort to open a six point lead. From that restart things started looking up for Aber when an Amman tactical kick was charged down near half way and the resulting chase was won by Aber fly half Gary Williams wide out. An excellent conversion attempt sailed agonisingly close, but the home lead had been cut to one point. As the half drew to a close, the situation was good for the visitors, the score belying the home side’s territorial dominance but some catastrophic defensive play gave Amman a scrum inside the Aber 22. Winning that ball, they squandered it again; Amman however simply passed left from their scrum and Jamie Davies was clear for the first of his tries and a 14-8 interval lead.

The opening of the second half saw the best Aber play. Centre Paul Stubbs was a beacon in the mediocre back line and his break 25 metres out in the 44^th minute silenced the home supporters; winger Evans in support took the feed 7 metres out and still had work to do, but he skilfully outmanoeuvred the remaining defenders to cross for Aber’s second try, bringing the deficit back to a single point. Minutes later however Davies also showed he was capable of breaking free and when Aber gave away the penalty in thwarting the attack, Thomas converted from 20 metres. The game started to run away from Aber soon afterwards when Davies chased a speculative kick ahead, the referee awarding his second try in the corner, although it would be interesting to see what a TMO would have made of it! Nevertheless Amman were now 9 points clear on the hour, and Aber just had to score to survive. That they almost did so at that point exemplified both the positive and negative aspects of their play. A very impressive surge saw Stubbs break through once again and excellent contributions from hooker Gareth Flynn and right wing Matthew Green took play into the Amman 22. Home supporters nearby were ready to applaud a stunning try when a pass from full back Barrie Thomas did not go to hand, the chance lost.

Amman took full advantage of that lucky break and their simple approach paid even more dividends when right wing Stuart Hunter rounded off a good move to cross in the corner; they also showed they knew how to close down a game with their incisive kicking, and a 68^th minute 30 metre drop goal from Thomas extended their advantage, before Davies claimed his hat-trick in another scramble and untidy defence at the end of a 60 metre Amman advance, putting his side 35-13 up with eight minutes to go. Aber did show some belated urgency at the end and earned a consolation third try when prop John Jones finished off a forward flourish from front row team mate Geraint Rowlands and replacement flanker Eifion Gwynne in the 77^th minute. A superb Evans conversion made the final score 35-20 to the home side.

This is yet another defeat that Aberystwyth could rue at the season’s end, but despite fielding strong sides on paper, there is clearly a performance problem. With such a large number of registered players, it is disappointing to turn up for a November League match with just one substitute and another on the way. They clearly have much to resolve. In a break from League action they visit Welsh Districts side Bryncethin next week in the second round of the Konica Minolta Cup. The Bridgend area side are however an accomplished Cup side and present a potentially devastating banana skin for the Plascrug side. Their performance at Amman would not see them through next week, and they know they have a lot to do, not least to prepare for this now big match.

Alan Jones

WRU National League Division 3 West   Saturday 29^th March 2008

Aberystwyth 19pts Amman United 0

Back to winning ways for Aberystwyth on Saturday in a match where the better team clearly won, but frustrating insofar as they failed to secure the invaluable bonus point. On yet another windy Saturday the elements were clearly to play a part but in the second half in particular Aber used it to dominate territorially and threatened on countless occasions to cross their opponents’ line.

It speaks volumes for Aberystwyth’s rugby structure that seven of the 19 players named for this match were under 20, all products of the junior and youth set-up. Their performance too was impressive as they stepped seamlessly into the team alongside more experienced colleagues.

As in the encounter at Cwmamman Park in November Amman United got off to an explosive start, throwing all they had at the Aber defence. Unlike the November match however Aberystwyth held firm for a full 15 minutes and when they eventually broke away they showed their superiority when scrum half Tom Evans scampered over the line for the opening try.  A superb conversion in the conditions by full back Gwilym Evans gave the home side a 7-point advantage, a scoreline that was to remain for the whole of the first half.

Both sides were guilty of unforced errors, hardly surprising in the wet and wind that made ball handling difficult. Both sides too were frustrated by the often novel interpretations of the laws by Abergele referee Ian Morris, and this probably accentuated the indiscipline shown from time to time. Amman kept coming at the home side who in turn duly kept them out, the intermittent mis-handling punctuating play with scrummages in all areas of the field. In any event the scoreboard operator was kept idle for nigh on three quarters of an hour!

The second half saw Aberystwyth underline their superiority, putting together repeated moves and breaks that should have led to several scores, only to be denied by a stubborn defence and their own errors in roughly equal proportions. The whole tenor of the match was epitomised in the 57^th minute when Club captain and the day’s substitute scrum half Gwion James failed to hang on to the ball after crossing the tryline. With some relief five minutes later young centre Rhys Morgan claimed Aber’s second try, receiving the ball some five metres out and making no mistake with the run-in. A sound conversion from Evans made it 14-0 to the Plascrug side and the match seemed won.

Frustrations continued and although referee Morris issued a yellow card to both sides, there seemed to be a lack of communication between him and the players, and a lack of consistency between what he did say and his subsequent actions. With the match clearly won the priority for the home side was now to get the two further tries needed for the bonus point. One came in the 77^th minute when the not-so-young centre Barrie Thomas crossed, but it was too late. Try as they might, the important fourth crossing eluded them, and they ran out emphatic 19-0 winners, but disappointed at hauling only 4 League points.

Realistically, Aberystwyth’s hopes of promotion are all but gone, relying now on slip-ups by other contenders in the race. They will not let up however, and have five important matches in the remaining month of the season. The first of these is next Saturday when they travel to the south of the county for the derby match at Llanybydder. The Plascrug encounter between the two sides in November resulted in a try-less win for the seasiders by four penalties to one. Both sides this time however will be keen not only to win but also to claim a bonus, and this augurs for a tense and exciting match. They then return to Plascrug for their last two home matches on consecutive Saturdays against Haverfordwest and another derby against Newcastle Emlyn.  Trips to Llanelli Wanderers and Haverfordwest (a rearranged match, now scheduled for Wednesday 30^th April) brings the season to a close. With many of the top Clubs engaged in matches between each other, who knows what will happen? With three local sides in the top part of the League, there may yet be some Ceredigion spoils.

Alan Jones