Division 1 west
Crymych 30 Aberystwyth 10
Crymych claimed the honours in the cross border derby against old rivals Aberystwyth and deservedly so as they were far better on the day.
The Preselimen who have hit a rich vein of form in recent weeks went behind to an early penalty from Steff Rees but they soon hit back and the game was all but over by the hour mark with the home pack rampant and dominant in all aspects.
This eagerly awaited contest which doubled up as a quarter final of the Pembrokeshire cup, kicked off in heavy fog and dark skies, but it soon lit up when the teams went at it from the outset and it was the visitors who drew first blood with an early penalty. However this lead did not last long as Crymych upped the tempo through their forwards with front rowers Steffan Harries, Ryan Rees and Aled Harries and impressive number eight Guto Davies carrying well and it was hooker Aled Harries who crossed for the opening try after a superb offload from open side Sion Collella. This was converted by outside half Gareth Davies and the score was increased soon afterwards when left wing Laurence Headlam rounded off a fine passage of play.
This superb move was once again instigated by the Crymych forwards with some slick passing and driving and the ball was swiftly moved out to Headlam who sprinted home in the corner to make it 12-3 to the hosts.
Fly half Davies added three more points from a penalty two minutes into the second half after Aberystwyth were forced to concede under huge pressure from the home pack and the Plascrug men were lucky just to get away with a yellow card and a penalty after they collapsed a rolling maul underneath the posts. Davies duly trotted up to slot over the penalty to make it 15-3 in favour of the home team and Aberystwyth looked to be heading for a very heavy defeat.
The deficit was increased on sixty minutes when referee Greg Morgan awarded a penalty try which brought some ironic cheering from the home crowd and at 25-3 it was pretty much all over. However to their credit the visitors came back and showed how dangerous they can be with some decent ball and they crossed for a well worked try when Dylan Evans crashed over and Steff Rees converted to put his team on double figures.
It was Crymych though who had the final word with a bonus point try when centre Gethin Gibby charged down a defensive clearance and he was first to ground the ball over the try line to complete the scoring.
Gareth Davies
A thoroughly well deserved win for the Preselimen thanks to an all round team performance with some stand out individual performances from number eight Davies and veteran fly half Gareth Davies who orchestrated matters well and varied his kicking intelligently.
Coaches Randall Williams and John Davies will have been very pleased with the overall showing from their squad although Aberystwyth were well off the pace and extremely disappointing up front.
