Aberystwyth 27 Trebanos 24

RAIN during the morning and during the match itself could have made this a spectacle of errors. As it was, both teams adapted well and produced a close and entertaining 80 minutes of rugby, writes Brian Morgan.

The two packs of forwards were well matched in height and weight and both sets of threequarters were equally skilled.

Aber started the match the stronger of the two sides and won the lion’s share of possession through the strength and tenacity of their pack.

They held their own in the scrums and drove their opponents back from lineouts and rucks. Behind the scrum they created fluent passing and solid defending.

he half backs Charles Thomas and Rhun Davies kicked beautifully in defence and attack and between them made a big contribution to this win as did Leo DeSouza Davies at full-back.

The first try came from an excellent touch-finding kick from Davies. Aber won a scrappy lineout for the pack to drive a full ten metres and hooker Iestyn Thomas to score the opening try.

The try went unconverted but Aber were 5-0 ahead after 10 minutes play. Trebanos responded immediately and went on the offensive.

Their scrummaging became more effective and this pressure earned them penalties from which they gained ground. After considerable pressure on the Aber line the opposition outside half crossed for a good solo try which he converted to take his side into a 5-7 lead.

Aber continued to go off the boil as their opponents gained in confidence and it was entirely with the run of play that Trebanos scored their second try after good, close interpassing down the left side of the field for their left wing to cross for their second try. This too was very well converted by their No 10 to close the first half at 5-14.

The Aber coach must have used some choice words of advice during his half time team talk as the hosts upped their game considerably for the second 40 minutes.

Their scrummaging became more competitive so that they won their own ball easily and made life difficult for the visitors’ eight on their own ball.

The same spirit affected the backs too and it was from an inch-perfect chip kick by Rhun Davies over the advancing Trebanos backs that centre Carwyn Evans pounced to gather the ball and feed his fellow centre Jac Jones who scored Aber’s second try converted by Davies to close the gap to 12-14.

The momentum continued with the hosts taking territorial and possession advantage. Their third try soon came from left wing Steffan Jones after several phases and good support play.

Davies again converted to regain the lead at 19-14. Davies added a penalty to his tally for Aber when their forwards pressured the visitors’ pack in a scrum 22 metres out to extend the home team’s lead to 22-14. Trebanos then narrowed the gap with a penalty of their own kicked by their outside half to bring the score to 22-17.

Aber brought on replacements including Llew Evans in the second row; it was his try that rounded off an excellent phase of play by forwards and backs. The try went unconverted but at 27-17 the hosts had gained a 4-try bonus point and should have been safe.

Instead, the visitors made a huge effort putting pressure on a tiring Aber resulting in a try wide out. With another excellent conversion their outside half closed the gap to 27-24.

Aber then kept the ball close to see the game out; but a penalty and ten metres added for backchatting gave Trebanos an opportunity to press for a winning try. They came very close to crossing Aber’s line before the final whistle was blown. Final result 27-24.

This was a fine effort by Aber and reflects well on the new coaching set up under Ifan Thomas.

But their tendency to play in hot and cold phases will sooner or later let them down.

Even more concerning is the way backchatting seems to have crept into Aber’s game.

Twice on Saturday the team was marched back ten metres by the referee after he had awarded a penalty against them.

On the first occasion Trebanos kicked a penalty. On the second occasion the extra ten metres enabled their outside half to find touch five metres from Aber’s line and they came very close indeed to scoring a winning try from the resulting lineout.