Baglan 17 Aberaeron 70

WRU Division 3 Cup - group M

Following last weekend’s league postponement, Aberaeron made the long journey down the M4 for the first of three matches of this year’s cup group competition.

Despite a fine start to the season it was unfortunate that the hosts were unable to field a front row, so the game was played with uncontested scrums, which is not always beneficial to the opposition.

A swirling breeze in the first half played a big advantage as Aberaeron facing the elements, and despite the man advantage huffed and puffed and allowed the opposition to battle their way to a minimum deficit at halfway.

Aberaeron started well and early pressure on the home defence resulted in a try for Tudur Jenkins Senior.

Rhodri Jenkins converted for the first of eight conversions, whilst also adding three penalties from the boot.

But as was symptomatic of the first half, errors in the visitors defence allowed Baglan to respond immediately, and despite a sniping effort from scrum half Gareth James, the hosts once again hit back and it took a well taken effort from Dyfrig Dafis to give Aberaeron a narrow 22-17 lead at the break.

After a somewhat frustrating first period, the second half proved a welcome turnaround with errors minimised and the release of the pace behind realised the openings to expose the man advantage and keep the scoreline ticking over.

Second row Richard Francis ground his way for a first before the backline took over.

Captain Morgan Llewelyn inevitably stated proceedings combining well with Tudur Jenkins Junior before the little winger demonstrated sheer pace with a scintillating three try salvo in fifteen minutes.

Morgan’s second try was another solo effort and together with promising debuts from prop Bobby Jones and Ben Swift in the back row, the result shows promise for the competition with another two encounters due in the group stage.