IT was a disappointing end to the season for Aberystwyth RFC as they were narrowly beaten 21-17 in the JT Auto Services Pembrokeshire Cup Final by Division Two West champions Tenby United in a close match at Crymych.

The game perhaps summed up their whole season, with a lot of effort and some very good play on show, but with errors costing them points.

Tenby started with the slope and the elements in their favour, but it was Aber who were first into their stride.

A clever kick from Matthew Hughes brought play back to just outside Tenby’s 22, where Tenby were caught offside. Steffan Rees drilled the ball into the 22, where the forwards drove the ball on, and with the Tenby pack disintegrating, Matthew Hughes glided through the gap to score the opening try, which Steffan Rees converted.

Straight away, however, some loose play lead to a good break from Tenby and full back Jonathan Morgan crossed for a try under the post, converted by outside half Ashley Sutton.

The strength of the wind was highlighted a few minutes later as Sutton attempted a penalty from fully 58 metres out, which dropped short, but this proved to be only a brief respite as Sutton soon slotted a 40m penalty.

Aber were back on the attack but a loose pass was dropped and a poor kick gave Tenby the chance to run the ball back from near the halfway line and Morgan crossed over for his second try, which was unconverted

After a period of play with neither side being able to gain an advantage, strong pressure by Aber led to a scrum on the halfway line where they were penalised for standing up.

They compounded the error by talking back to the referee, who added 10 metres, and Sutton kicked the now closer penalty for an 18-7 advantage.

A strong hit from the resultant kick off earned Aber a penalty, but despite Steffan Rees giving the ball a mighty kick, the ball just dipped under the crossbar because of the strong wind.

Some strong pressure from Aber then allowed them to gain a foothold just outside Tenby’s 22 and strong running created a chance for Steffan Rees to score wide out, which he superbly converted to make it 14-18.

Jack Guerreiro on Tenby’s right wing, who only replaced the injured Mark Heywood in the warm up, had to be replaced by Connor Ennis, and the last action was a penalty to Aber on the half way earned by captain Lee Evans clamping the ball in a tackle.

With the elements in their favour in the second half, and only a four point deficit, Aber must have been quite confident at half time. Unfortunately, the rain had now got heavier and did it not help Aber’s cause by making the ball and surface more slippery.

A great recovery by Sion Cowdy, to Aber‘s kick-off, allowed Dean Coleman to get within 10 metres of Tenby’s line. This good attacking position was wasted by crossing in midfield.

Mistakes by Aber proved to be a feature of the half and despite a lot of effort not much headway was made.

Tenby then proceeded to give away a number of penalties close to their line, which resulted in captain Luke Hansford being yellow-carded, and Rees kicked the resulting penalty.

Paul Stubbs was replaced by Hopcyn Matthews after battling bravely with an arm injury, and this was to be the first of a series of injury replacements which stalled Aber’s momentum, with Kevin Jones being replaced by Matt Roberts and Sion Cowdy by Llyr Thomas. Aber’s Carwyn Thomas was also replaced by Owain Bonsall and Coleman by Tom Slinger.

In the closing quarter a good chip and chase almost resulted in a try from Llyr Thomas. Then a strong break out from Tenby led to a needless penalty being awarded on the Aber 22, which Sutton converted.

The final attacking action from Aber was a great break and support play, but the final pass to was ruled forward by the touch judge with Gruff Jones about to cross for what could have been the match-winning try.

Aber continued to try hard, but failed to make any progress and Tenby were the Pembrokeshire Cup winners for the third time in five seasons.