Division 1 West
Aberystwyth 12 Penclawdd 16
A losing bonus point was the only reward for Aberystwyth on the opening day of the new season and the Ceredigion men will have to polish up quickly as they face Gowerton and Tenby in the next two weeks and both teams registered big wins on Saturday.
Aberystwyth started the game strongly and dominated the early exchanges but were met with some resilient defence by the Cocklemen who put in some big hits.
However the pressure exerted eventually rewarded them with a try when full-back Mathew Hughes fielded a speculative kick and made a fine break before linking with centre Steff Rees who sliced through the defence to score a fine try out wide.
A few minutes later Rees was heavily involved again this time as a defender when he tracked back and intercepted an inside pass to thwart a very promising attack and save a certain try.
The visitors continued to push hard but some stout defending by Aber held out a series of close drives. There followed a couple of yellow cards, one for each side with Penclawdd having slightly better of the play and they converted a penalty by centre Dan Guaneri to make the score 5-3.
The hosts then lost full-back Mathew Hughes to a heavy challenge but they finished the half strongly and were unlucky not to score after a series of very promising attacks.
Penclawdd started the second half full of intent and took full advantage of another yellow card for Aberystwyth with centre Guaneri kicking a penalty to take the lead at 5-6 and they added to this advantage a few minutes later when right winger Jack Porter burst through to score a try converted by Guaneri to make the score 5-13.
The Plascrug outfit then came back into the game with backs and forwards linking well and managed to score an excellent try through centre Carwyn Evans when he cut back on a superb angle at a scrum and ran through to score near the posts. The try was converted by outside half Steff Rees to make the score 12-13 and set up a tense final quarter.
Guaneri kicked another penalty when the hosts were caught once again with their hands in a ruck and this effectively sealed a well deserved win for Penclawdd by 16-12 with indiscipline costing the home side dearly.
Photos by Chris Howells
