Fixture

Crymych 11 Aberystwyth 17

This was a performance full of determination and character.  Aber were disrupted on the day by the late withdrawal of scrum half Llyr Thomas, who was replaced by elder brother Ifan who gave a master class on how to play the role.

The game was fiercely competitive, with strong tackling from both sides, and play remained between the 22’s for the first 25 minutes.  The early loss of their hooker, Carwyn Rees, seemed to disrupt the Crymych lineout but they continued to scrummage strongly.  Crymych also lost their outside half, Ifan Phillips, to a bad elbow injury after half an hour.  His replacement, Gareth Davies, only lasted 5 minutes before damaging his shoulder.  After 33 minutes, Adam Phillips kicked a penalty for Crymych after an Aber ruck infringement.  This only served to raise Aber’s efforts.  In the 37^th minute Dorian Jones stole a Crymych line, after a great kick by Ian Ellis, and some great handling Adam Carvell crossed in the corner.  Steff Rees kicked a great conversion.  In the lengthy injury time, Steff Rees sustained a nasty cut to his mouth and Harry Hewson came on as a blood replacement, whilst Steff had strapping fixed to his face.

The second half started with Aber having to absorb a lot of pressure in their 22, but the scrum held firm and Aber eventually weathered the storm, despite having a forward yellow carded.  When Aber worked their way up the field, Paul Stubbs was able to win a penalty by standing strong in the ruck, which Steff Rees kicked.

This prompted Crymych to redouble their efforts and eventually centre Carwyn Phillips scored in the corner but the conversion went wide.  Aber tried to relieve the storm by introducing fresh legs who all had an impact on their game.  With 32 minutes gone in the second half Crymych’s Adam Phillips kicked a penalty after Aber were penalised for not pushing straight to take them into the lead for the first time.

This is when Aber really showed their character, they really battled hard for everything and an intelligent break for replacement flanker Steffan Rattray got the team into a good position.  Further determined running from all led to Ian Ellis going over in the corner which was well converted by Steff Rees.  This was the final score of the game and the end of a very good and hard working performance from all the squad.