SWALEC BOWL SECOND ROUNDNEWTOWN 7 ABERAERON 23

IN an enthralling encounter Aberaeron came through to progress to the next round of this year’s WRU Bowl competition after a testing afternoon away against Division Two North outfit Newtown.

Whilst the outcome was never really in doubt, the visitors did have to delve deep into their defensive strengths to repel the forward bulk of the opposing front eight.

Once again they were indebted to another faultless display by outside half Rhodri Jenkins, who amassed 18 points for the afternoon and ensured that Newtown were always chasing the cause.

Early pressure on the home defence resulted in the first of Jenkins’ three penalties, and within minutes he had glided through for a try, which he converted.

Newtown continued with their forward obsession, which resulted in reasonable success in the scrums, but the line-outs went the way of Aberaeron, with Llyr Davies, the returning Richard Francis and Tudur Jenkins gaining more than their share of possession for the visitors.

Jenkins soon added his second penalty, and although subjected to increasing defensive duties, a swift break from defence, with the Slinger brothers and Ollie Sawyer involved, gave the opening for full back Rhodri Thomas to crown a fine afternoon with his first try of the season, with the conversion again successful.

Newtown’s best period came either side of half-time, with continuous rolling mauls by their giant pack causing a considerable threat, and they gained a hold on the game with a converted penalty try.

Try as they might, that was their only success and they were fortunate to survive as strong carrying by back rowers Lewis Tomlins and Aaron Lewis threatened, but ultimately came up short.

One such attack was illegally held up, resulting in a yellow card and leaving Jenkins to complete his tally of points.

Aberaeron could easily have added to the advantage, but several clear cut openings went astray, with the final pass delayed, and with the try line beckoning.

At the final whistle there was a wide grin from player-coach Justin Lloyd, who was ably deputising at scrum half.

LAMPETER 19 TUMBLE 23

IN near perfect playing conditions Tumble travelled to Lampeter’s North Road for the second round of the Specsavers WRU Bowl, repeating a fixture that has been played several times between these teams in the past few years.

Having comfortably dispatched the Gwendraeth Valley side in a pre-season friendly match, Lampeter - with arguably their strongest side all season - had reason to feel confident come kick-off.

Cup matches and over-confidence, however, can have a tendency to bite teams, as was the case in this classic battle between the two sides.

The visitors started the brighter of the two teams as they made yards from telling runs from their hard-working pack into Lampeter’s 22.

A penalty for offside, taken quickly by veteran fly half Steve Hewitt, saw the blonde bomber notch a seven-point haul in as many minutes, along with the conversion, after Lampeter had committed the cardinal sin of turning their backs on the opposition.

Having woke up from their early slumber, the hosts started playing neat rugby of their own, with some smart work by returning No 8 Rob Morgan, and good sniping runs by scrum half Dion Hughes.

Lapses in concentration saw final passes going astray, however, with Hewitt rubbing salt into their wounds with a long range penalty to take the score up to 0-10.

Keeping faith in their game plan Lampeter struck back from the restart with a series of close range scrums and drives at the Tumble line.

Finally, Morgan neatly off-loaded for Hughes to convert that pressure into points.

Shortly after, another flowing move resulted in a searing break from roaming winger Carwyn Lewis, to provide the pass for fellow winger Gareth Griffiths to score, and young fly-half Osian Jones converted the extra two from in front of the posts.

The arm-wrestle continued at the start of the second half as Lampeter thwarted several forays into their 22, yet a turnover penalty failed to find touch, allowing Hewitt to once again set off further attacks on the Lampeter line.

After several thrusts, Hewitt broke through, only to offload a hugely forward pass, seen by all except man in the middle, and turn their pressure into seven points.

Tumble sensed an upset, but from deep the Maroons pounced on loose ball, with powerful right wing Griffiths breaking from deep and returning the favour to fellow winger Lewis, who stretched out and outpaced the cover defence to the corner - and intelligently touched down near to the posts, making the conversion simpler for Jones.

As the game entered its final quarter the hosts found the going tough as they fell foul of the whistle, and Hewitt slotted two penalties.

In the dying moments, with immense pressure on their line, Tumble defended for their lives, thwarting a fairy-tale ending and thus ending Lampeter’s involvement in this season’s competition.

LLANYBYDDER 25 HAVERFORDWEST 24

LLANYBYDDER welcomed in-form Haverfordwest to Parc OJ in their Bowl tie, and it was the home side who eventually gained progress to the third round.

Fly half Llyr Tobias scored two early penalties for Llanybydder, but it was the visitors who dominated territory and possession during the opening period.

Fine interplay by the backs led to an excellent score for full-back Rhys Baker.

The Haverfordwest forwards were strong in the set-piece, and a series of close range scrums led to a pushover try for No 8 Ashley George, whilst shortly afterwards the visitors were awarded a penalty try, after strong scrummaging.

Llanybydder responded with a try for young lock Josh Jones, which was converted by Tobias, to ensure a half-time score of 13-17 to the visiting team.

A further try early in the second period for Rhys Baker, converted by Mikey Jones, led to a 13-24 lead for the visitors.

Strong defence by both teams prevented further scores until the game approached injury time. The match appeared to be over as a contest, but a huge late effort by the home side ensured a dramatic finale.

The ball was kept alive for a number of phases, eventually leading to fine try for No 8 and skipper Ricky Davies, which brought the scoreline back to 18-24.

Llanybydder attacked from the kick-off, keeping the ball alive, and incredibly skipper Davies broke several tackles to cross under the posts for his second try.

The conversion by Tobias ensured a moral-boosting 25-24 win for the hosts.