WRU BOWL
Aberaeron 22 Caerau Ely 7
Aberaeron booked their place in the quarter final of the WRU Bowl thanks to a gritty and determined performance against League 3 East outfit Caerau.
The visitors arrived on the back of some decent form and they played an expansive game early on with full back Healy causing a few problems and they were rewarded for their enterprise with a try by centre Harley who also added the conversion. Aberaeron’s cause was not helped by early injuries to centre Iwan Evans and No8 Lewis Tomlins and it needed a response from a reorganised squad superbly led by player coach Justin Lloyd at inside half to turn the tide.
This reward came after a period of relentless pressure on the visitors line which resulted in a quick release giving second row Bleddyn Thomas a clear path to the line and giving Rhodri Jenkins the conversion to bring the scores level at the break. With the Seagulls in the ascendancy after the turnaround and the Slinger brothers threatening to expose the visitors defence Jenkins put his side ahead with a penalty and the next score brought much pleasure to the front eight as Caerau were unable to repel a rolling maul from virtually half way with prop Owain Wozencraft crossing the whitewash.
The result at this stage was still very much in the balance and with the visitors becoming more than a little frustrated more so with a lenient referee, the final reckoning was confirmed with lock Thomas taking a pass from a turnover by Tudur Jenkins and despite being tackled he offloaded a deft pass to centre Dyfrig Dafis to walk in from close range. Jenkins duly converted to seal a well deserved win for the Seagulls.
Division 3 west A
Haverfordwest 7 Lampeter Town 10
League leaders Lampeter Town pulled off their best result of the season with a narrow win away at title rivals Haverfordwest.
The Ceredigion men who travelled with a few regulars missing, dug deep when they really needed to with some fierce defending and managed to fend off a long period of sustained pressure by the Blues in the slippery conditions.
The host started well and looked sharp in the opening quarter but stand off Mikey Jones was off-target with two penalties and the visitors hit back and used their wind advantage well with Osian Jones and partner Huw Thomas kicking effectively and it was the latter who put Lampeter ahead with a well-struck penalty. Lampeter crossed for a try just after the break when Ryan Doughty made the initial inroad with a fine break and following several phases Jamie Edwards crossed the whitewash for a converted try.
The Blues came back with a try from Jack Evans which was brilliantly converted by Mikey Jones to set up a nervy final few minutes with only three points separating the teams.However it was Lampeter who held their nerve and they saw the game out with some match winning tackles to deny the Blues at the death.
Pics by Nick Hermann.
