It may have been a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon on Preseli, but this match entertained and warmed spectators to the end, the final outcome always in doubt. Crymych had had an inauspicious start to their first season in the second Division by losing their first seven matches and yet to register a League point; their visitors’ start had been better by a whisker with one win, but their League tally had been boosted by three bonus points. On this evidence there was little to separate the two sides, and so it proved by the end of Saturday afternoon.

An awkward swirling wind blowing across the field was to be a problem throughout, but the visitors had the advantage of the least gentle of the slopes on the Crymych pitch in the first half. They started well enough but after being on the wrong side of a handful of refereeing decisions early on they found themselves defending in their own 22 within ten minutes. The home backs would create problems all afternoon, and they got the afternoon off to a particularly bad start for Aber in the 11^th minute when left wing Guto Griffiths crossed in the corner for the opening try. Aber’s Jason Rees hit back almost immediately though with a well controlled penalty shot from 45 metres. They followed this up three minutes later with one of the best tries seen for a while; wing Rhys Richards broke away along the right flank from half way, creating ground before feeding his flanker Llyr Morris, the youngster in turn passing to number eight Gwion Jones who went over for a try.  The wind beat Rees’s conversion attempt, but the centre made no mistake in the 19^th minute by slotting a penalty from 24 metres, slightly right of the posts. Aberystwyth were 11-5 up at the end of the first quarter, and consolidation was now called for.

But Crymych struck back with some defiance, firstly through an excellent wide penalty into the wind from their fly half Dyfan Dafydd. Then when an Aber attack was thwarted near half way, Dafydd broke out and spun the ball right to full back Marc Lloyd, and an equally slick feed to Griffiths gave the winger his second try. Another good conversion from Dafydd opened a 15-11 lead for the home side in the 28^th minute.

Whilst Crymych had shown that they possessed backs who could complete an attack, it was Aberystwyth that were winning the battle up front, and their dominance was growing by the minute. This resulted in Aber getting more of the possession, but they were not able to advance near enough to the Crymych line to convert that into points.  On the half hour a promising Aber attack was cynically stopped, an act that led Tumble referee Jon Hardy to reach for his yellow card without hesitation, and the home side were reduced to 14 men. To make matters worse for them, Rees kicked the accompanying penalty from 27 metres, and Aber were back to within a point.

With Aber forwards seemingly controlling play on half way close to the touchline, sharp eyed hooker Carwyn Rees was the first to spot that the ball had spurted out, and he made 40 metres of territory along the touchline before being brought to ground. The visitors were then penalised at the scrum that followed, and Dafydd landed a good kick into the wind to make it 18-14 to the home side.  Team numbers were then equalised when Aber were yellow carded for handling on the ground, but the balance was short lived before Crymych numbers were restored. This did not seem to bother the visitors however and they pressured the Crymych defence for the remainder of the first half. That pressure eventually told when the visiting fly half Llywarch ap Myrddin scored his side’s second try, and a first rate conversion by Rees gave the light and dark blues a 21-18 lead which they carried for the minute or so that remained of the first half.

Aberystwyth started the second half well enough but their hard work was brought to naught in the 45^th minute when Dyfan Dafydd showed his knowledge of the home geography with a punishing kick into the corner. Aber were caught off guard and carried the ball over their own line to yield a scrum 5 metres out. Crymych sensed blood and were duly rewarded when centre and captain Elgan Vittle crossed for their third try. Vittle had been instrumental in all the attacks and counter attacks that the home side had mounted and fully deserved his score. Dafydd rubbed salt into Aber wounds with a superb conversion and Crymych were 25-21 up.

And that was how the score remained for a full half hour as Crymych valiantly defended against the possession advantages that the Aber pack created.  But little of the play reached either tryline in this period and as the clock ticked away it seemed that Crymych might pull off the unlikeliest of victories, given the possession statistics of the game.  Dafydd narrowly missed a long penalty that would probably have settled matters in the 76^th minute. But this shook Aber into a determined last ditch attack and strong interplay took them into the home 22.  A touch of illegal spoiling earned Crymych a second yellow card, and Aber ‘s pack ploughed ahead in the scrum that followed. It was all but a pushover try, but the ball came back, was spun out left and full back Siôn Summers joined the line at its end to cross for a try. Rees converted and Aber now had a 3-point lead with 79 minutes on the clock.

It was a well fought match, not for those of a nervous disposition, but Aber came away with a win that was deserved, reflecting the general play. Crymych did come close, and had to content themselves with their first bonus point.

Aberystwyth, 9^th in this 12-team division, now face eighth-placed Felinfoel at Placscrug next Saturday in what promises to be another nail-biter!

Alan Jones