ABERYSTWYTH Athletic travelled to face Welshpool with a full squad for their early kick-off in the last eight of the Mid Wales Cup, and their commitment was rewarded with a 19-0 away win to book their place in the semi-finals.

They dominated in terms of both territory and possession and fully deserved to go through with a win that was based on a solid performance by the forwards.

There were some strong carries by notably Rob Sutton and Sam Hesden, backed up by some very effective clearing-out by the pack, which generated some quick ball for scrum-half Ben Jones, who had an excellent game to dictate the play.

The first score came about after a very good counter-attack initiated by the full-back and carried on by the pack, with Rob Sutton hacking the ball over the line, only to be held back, with the referee having no hesitation in awarding a penalty-try.

That score remained until the interval, with Athletic dominating proceedings.

Aber continued in the same vein and scored a lovely try to increase their lead.

Sam Hesden made a clean break from his own 22, and with some excellent support play and inter-passing they worked Mathew Hughes clear to score a fine team try by the posts, which he converted to extend the visiting side’s lead to 0-14.

Aber then had to weather some pressure by Welshpool, but their defence held firm and they eventually cleared their lines and worked their way back up-field.

They were awarded a penalty in the Welshpool 22 and opted for a scrum, from which Sam Hesden picked up and fed Ben Jones, who powered over to score a try, and cap a very fine performance.

This was a very creditable effort by Athletic, who fully deserved to go through..