Aberystwyth Athletic 28 Newcastle Emlyn Dreigiau 21

WRU West Conference

Aberystwyth Athletic welcomed NCE Dreigiau to Plascrug for the opening game of the season in a repeat of last season’s Plate Final held at Parc Y Scarlets.

With the home team playing into a strong breeze, both teams showed some rustiness in their approach to the game with the Athletic being turned over easily at the break down but the visitors then failed to capitalise on their possession.

About 20 minutes into the game the Athletic took the game to their opponents, and after a series of strong runs from centre Will Bromham and captain Llewellyn Evans they found themselves in the opposition half where an offside penalty allowed outside half Sam Davies to put the home side 3 – 0 up.

This gave the Athletic the impetus to go on the attack and they soon found themselves in their opponents 22, but a missed pass allowed the visitors to capitalise and sweep up field where a well-placed kick was going to lead to a certain try only for the NCE player to be tackled off the ball leaving the referee with no option but to award a penalty try to give the visitors a 3 - 7 lead.

Undaunted the Athletic continued to take the game to the visitors and pressed hard for the next score. After a number of strong driving lineouts that resulted in their opponents infringing on several occasions, the Athletic were awarded a penalty in their opponents 22 where Davies added 3 point to give a halftime lead of 6 - 7 to the visitors.

From the restart with a strong breeze at their backs, NCE pressure forced the Athletic to knock the ball forward straight from the kick off which allowed the visitors to pressurise the hosts where following a series of strong runs from their backs the visitors crossed under the posts for a converted try and take a 14 – 6 lead.

Captain and number 8 Llewellyn Evans then took the game by the scruff of the neck to inspire his team-mates through a series of strong runs deep into the visitor’s half which saw the home team camped on their opponents’ line. A series of powerful drives by the home pack saw Evans crash over for a try to reduce the deficit to 11 - 14.

This seemed to inspire the visitors into action, and from the restart they immediately pressurised the home team through their strong running backs, but with the try line at their mercy Athletic outside half Sam Davies intercepted the ball and sprinted the length of the field to score under the post and his conversion gave the home team an 18 – 14 lead.

The Athletic through forwards Robbie Parry, Guto Jones, Morgan Evans, Charles Hansford and captain Llewelyn Evans in particular dominated the game which was expertly managed by a young half back pairing of outside half Sam Davies and scrum half Steffan Turner who both showed maturity above their young ages. This enabled the Athletic to dominate most of the second half of the game.

After a series of strong line out drives and interplay between forwards and backs, hooker Celt Lewis was able to crash over from close range for his first try of the game giving the hosts a 23 – 14 lead.