Aberaeron 34 Llanybydder 7

ABERAERON opened their account for the season with success in the first derby of their Division Three West campaign.

It was also revenge for last season’s defeat to the Teifisiders, which was a big factor in the failure to gain promotion.

The victory did come at the expense of a knee injury to Gethin Hughes, which may mean an extended absence for the second row, and there were other injuries which disrupted the flow of the game.

The home team got off to a perfect start, with centre Dafydd Llewelyn, in his first outing of the campaign, showing sheer pace to cross over in the corner. Another excellent conversion by Rhodri Jenkins was followed by a penalty by the outside half to open up a 10 point advantage.

Frustratingly, handling errors and indiscretion foiled any addition to the scoreline, and allowed the visitors to gain more confidence after the turnaround.

With a few nerves starting to show the Seagulls allayed the tension with a solo opportunity by Tom Slinger. Collecting the ball at halfway, the winger brushed aside several would-be tacklers to cross the line, with Jenkins again converting.

Llanybydder then subjected their opponents to defensive duties, and they forced the breakthrough after some strong forays from No 8 Stuart Morgan, with second row John Evans getting the score.

An excellent conversion by Steff Richards brought hope for the visitors, but virtually from the restart the lead was restored with an excellent gather by debutant Dan Lintin, which saw the ball pass through the hands of Rhodri Thomas to give centre Dyfrig Davis a run to the line.

With the bonus point begging, the hosts upped another gear and the back row of Dan Lewis, Lewis Tomlins and Aaron Lewis in particular became more prominent, creating openings for the backline.

It was Llewelyn who benefited again, showing searing pace and balance on two openings to go over for his hat-trick. Jenkins’ two conversions completed a personal haul of nine points and what had ended as a comfortable success.

This weekend, Aberaeron travel to Llandybie and Llanybydder go to St Clears in the WRU Bowl.

Cardigan 48 St Davids 8

CARDIGAN put their surprise defeat against Llangwm firmly behind them with a well deserved win over St Davids, but the final scoreline was a little flattering.

The Saints dominated the opening 40 minutes and spent much of it in the Cardigan half, but their inability to turn pressure into points cost them dearly and they ran out of steam after the interval.

The young Cardigan side made a nervous start as passes went to ground regularly, much to the obvious frustration of coach Tudor Harries.

The visitors went close to scoring on several occasions, but after the break the Cardis played with more maturity, helped by the arrival of some experienced bench players.

With scrum half Mathew Roebuck and rugged forward Dan Evans, the hosts played with more fluency and kept the ball far better, which allowed the likes of Tom Taylor and Llyr Jones to break through - and tries followed.

The visitors had opened the scoring after only three minutes when Rhys Morgan slotted over a penalty, after the Cardigan scrum had been sent backwards, and this was to be a familiar pattern for the next half hour as the scrum fell apart on both sides.

The Saints were camped in the Cardigan 22 metre area for long periods, but over-elaboration and dropped passes saw at least three try scoring chances butchered.

Cardigan got away with it, and went back up the other end of the field to cross for a try through skipper Tom Taylor, who after a shaky start led well from the front.

This score, created from quality line-out play, saw the ball for once sticking in the hands, and Taylor burst through to touch down and take his team in at the break 10-3 ahead - with the Saints left scratching their heads as to how they were losing.

The introduction of former Crymych scrum half Mathew Roebuck proved to be the catalyst for change, and his decision-making and short sharp breaks gave his team the go forward that they had been missing, and two tries were scored in a few minutes.

Centre Aaron Tomkinson dived over for the first of these, after a powerful run from Taylor, and Roebuck added the second after some alert work by hooker Luke Palmer-Davies, who showed neat football skills to dribble the ball along the touchline for Roebuck to pounce. Both of these tries were superbly converted by stand off Jones.

With Saints’ flanker Rhys Prince in the sin-bin, another smart try followed when winger Gwern Phillips was put away after Roebuck produced another excellent run down the blind alley, and this was converted to put the Cardis out of sight at 31-3.

Typically, a spirited St Davids were not finished yet, and they responded with a try from centre Dylan Walsh.

Tomkinson, however, added his second try of the match soon after this, which was again converted by Jones.

Full back Llion Williams scored the try of the match with a set move that was well executed and finished off by Williams, after skilful hands from replacement Iwan John. This weekend Cardigan will host Furnace in the Bowl.

Tregaron 14 Lampeter 26

PRIOR to the inaugural league game between neighbours Tregaron and Lampeter, the clubs showed their respect to Eiry Dafydd, by observing a minute’s silence.

The large crowd basked in beautiful Autumnal sunshine, and were treated to an excellent game of rugby, which was keenly contested.

It was the visitors who were first out of the traps, and with their first back-line move a massive gap in the home defence allowed Ryan Doughty to cross unchallenged, with Dion Hughes adding the extra two points.

For the next half an hour the Tregaron pack won some good possession and outside half Gethin Jones played the territory game to good effect.

Chances were created, but none were executed during this period, however the Swansea referee penalised Lampeter at regular intervals and Jones kicked three penalties to put the home team in the lead by the 35th minute.

Before to the interval, the visitors’ pack used the direct route to cross from close range to give them a three point lead at the break. Dan Thomas was the try scorer.

In the second period play flowed from try line to try line, and the home side had the bulk of the possession, but the Maroons’ defensive line stood firm and the home pack could not force themselves over from close range.

When Lampeter had the ball their speedy back line looked very creative and eventually two tries won the game, the first from Rob Morgan, and the second by Thomas Rhys, with Hughes adding the conversions.

In the final 10 minutes Tregaron scored their only try as substitute No 8 Rhydian Davies crossed from a scrum five, and Ieuan Wyn Rees added the conversion kick.

This weekend, Tregaron will travel to face Llangadog in the Swalec Bowl, and Lampeter host Pembroke Dock.