Fixture

Aberystwyth's away trip was to mid-table Dunvant, near Swansea. The weather was clear but recent rain made it heavy underfoot. The Dunvant kick off fell short with the resultant scrum leading to a promising incursion into the host's territory. A spilled ball led to the play moving into the Aberystwyth half but staunch defending held off the Dunvant attack. Aberystwyth was penalised for a deliberate tap on which resulted in Mat Hughes being sinbinned .The next 10 minutes saw possession pass from one team to the other through a number of penalised mistakes. The referee awarded a penalty to Dunvant for a holding-on offence which led to a lineout near the Aberystwyth line. From this, Dunvant's no.6, Ben Davies crossed the line. The try was awarded despite many of the spectators believing that the ball was not grounded. The conversion by Williams-Parry was successful.

The rest of the first half saw play moving between the two halves, with a number of infringements, spilled balls and clearance kicks failing to create advantage for either team, except for one Aberystwyth penalty for Steffan Rees reducing the deficit to 7:3. A further penalty against the Dunvant hooker for a deliberate knock on saw him yellow-carded. During his absence, an exciting break downfield by Aber's Ian Ellis and Mat Hughes led to a fumbled pass, and thus the advantage was lost.

The second half followed a similar pattern, but Aberystwyth was able to take advantage of two Dunvant infringements in the first 15 minutes, both kicked by Rees to bring the score to 7:9. Much of the second half saw Dunvant playing in the Aberystwyth half, and around 25 minutes a forwards push from a lineout saw Dunvant forwards force over a no.4 Ollie Beck try which was not converted, 12:9. Sometime later, a second yellow card saw the hooker sent off for the rest of the game. A further yellow saw Dunvant reduced to 13 men (much to the derision of the home crowd), with the prospect of a difficult end of match. A scrum for Aberystwyth sent the ball backwards and a decision to take the narrow corridor bundled the attack into touch. The resulting lineout enabled Dunvant to tie up the ball until the final whistle.

Despite some good individual performances, it was felt that, as a team, the Aber performance lacked the sharpness and precision seen in last Saturday's defeat of Kidwelly. Dunvant had over 50% of territory and possession and their speed to the ball and clinical handling made them marginally better opponents and probably deserving in their victory. The underperformance of Aberystwyth was felt by their players and the frustration of captain Arwel Lloyd was evident in the post-match briefing.

Hopefully, Aberystwyth can start consolidating their table position with their home match against Gorseinon next Saturday (Dec. 26, k.o. 2.30pm)