Rugby

Warriors finally beaten at Aberaeron

THE Carmarthen Warriors - a side made up of players from the Tywi Valley - were foiled from winning the ever-popular Aberaeron Sevens for a fourth consecutive year when they were beaten by Bargoed in last Sunday’s well-attended final 32-15.
It proved to be sweet revenge for the Welsh League Division One East side, who had gone down to the Warriors 38-17 in the 2007 final.
The Warriors skipper, Carmarthen Athletic lock Arwel Davies, was sporting enough to admit Bargoed had the edge for most of the final.
“We had a couple of chances early in the second-half to take a narrow lead but Bargoed defended well and then hit us on the break,” he said.
“We really wanted to finish the sevens season in style after another successful campaign in which we won the Spoon at Bath and the Plate at the Cwmtawe Sevens, but we can have no complaints about it.”
The Warriors second string - the Flamingoes - also performed creditably by reaching the semi-finals, only to lose out to their elders 21-5.
The Warriors looked a good bet to win the title early on when they recorded three straight pool wins over Caerphilly Falcons 19-10, Barbarians 45-0 and Morriston 40-7.
With skipper Davies, Wayne Price (Ammanford) and Jason Howells (Llanelli) getting the lion’s share of possession, the guile of Ystalyfera player-coach Gareth James and the speed of wing Andrew Jones brought plenty of tries for the side.
There was too an important contribution as an impact player from the much-travelled Lennie Woodard, but the Legionnaires pushed the Warriors all the way in the quarter-final, only a late try from James ultimately settling the issue 14-7.
The Flamingoes, who were made up of mainly Carmarthen Athletic players, had played really well in winning their pool games against Aberaeron 24-10 and Lampeter Spartans 7-5, and then pipping Pontyberem 28-14 in the quarter-final.
They could not cope with the Warriors in the semi-final, their only try coming from Whitland’s Will Thomas, against three from Jones, James and Price, to make it 21-5.
Bargoed had swept all before them in the other half of the draw and had shown themselves worthy finalists by beating Crymych Crusaders 28-12 in a high quality semi-final.
The Crymych side - well served by forward Bedwyr Harris, scrum-half Rhodri Davies and the experienced centre Elgan Vittle - had won the Newport, Pembs and Machynlleth Sevens, but could not cope with the striking power of Lee Pearson.
It was Pearson who had earned the Man of the Tournament award with another classy display of running, and scoring in the final.
The Warriors did well to get tries through Jones, Aberavon’s Andrew Jenkins and Carmarthen Athletic’s Viv Jenkins but it was not enough to stop Bargoed winning 32-15.
Pearson (2), Leigh Meares, Steffan Jones, Darren Humphries and Grant Rogers all crossed for tries to clinch a decisive success for Bargoed.
Morriston won the Plate in beating the Barbarians 30-10 and there was a clean sweep for Crymych at junior level. The North Pembs club created a record in winning all four tournaments at U9, U11, U13 and U15
Results: Quarter-final: Carmarthen Warriors 14 Legionnaires 7; Flamingoes 28 Pontyberem 14; Crymych Crusaders 24 Caerphilly Falcons 22; Bargoed 40 Lampeter Spartans 7. Semi-finals: Warriors 21 Flamingoes 7; Bargoed 28 Crymych Crusaders 12. Final: Warriors 15 Bargoed 32.

Pictured above: Aberaeron Sevens winners Bargoed celebrate beating Carmarthen Warriors. Pic: Riley Sports Photography.