Aberystwyth welcomed Felinfoel to Plascrug for the first time since they faced each other way back in their fourth division days. The visitors have a proud history and pedigree and have in many eyes been effectively the second fifteen to Llanelli; having spent a few years in the first division, they were relegated last season and have struggled at the start of this one. They had clocked up one victory more than their hosts however and before the match lay three points and one place ahead of Aber, the two in 9^th and 10^th positions.

Aberystwyth had achieved their second victory of the season the previous week thanks largely to the way in which their pack had completely dominated their opposing eight at Crymych.  And that superiority was also evident on Saturday, becoming more evident as the afternoon progressed. Once again however they had difficulty in converting such advantage into points, and Felinfoel showed that they were well capable of counter-attacking with some impressive young backs. It was the visitors who opened the scoring in fact in the 6^th minute of the match when their full back Rhodri Mason slotted a 30 metre penalty when the Aber threequarters were penalised for encroaching. The game featured end to end play but Aber’s increasing forward dominance made them look the better side. The scoreboard remained static however for most of the half before Mason landed another 30 metre penalty in the 36^th minute to give the visitors a six point lead. The match was played in good spirit but was interrupted by a number of stoppages that led to the half being prolonged considerably. With 47 minutes on the clock a speculative chip took play very close to the Felinfoel line. Aber actually touched down over the tryline, but there had been a number of fumbles along the way and Aber were adjudged to have committed the first. The last play of the half was therefore a scrum five metres from the Felinfoel line, with the defending side’s put-in; Aber’s scrummage superiority was never better exemplified than by their text-book play in pushing Foel off their own ball and backwards towards their line.  As the ball crossed over the tryline, Aber’s control was total as lock  Iestyn Tudur Jones touched down. Centre Jason Rees slotted a fine conversion with the final kick of the half to give the home side the edge by 7-6 at the interval.

Aberystwyth started the second half well but did not quite finish off several moves that brought them very close to the Felinfoel tryline. Stoppages and injuries continued however, Felinfoel regularly drawing on their bench.  When Aber lost their impressive young number eight Gwion Jones, reorganisation saw young lock Gethin Hughes come on a very able replacement to their ranks and the Aber pack continued their dominance. In the 47^th minute Rees successfully dropped a goal from 30 metres to keep the scoreboard ticking, putting the home side 10-6 up. But then in the 52^nd minute the game was changed completely when Felinfoel controversially elected to go for uncontested scrummages. It was a surprise to the Aber eight as it was not clearly apparent how their opponents had changed their front row significantly; much has been made in the press recently that Warren Gatland had considered such tactics in the World Cup, but a sense of morality prevailed in that instance. In this match however the forward dominance that Aber had built up disappeared in a flash, and the game became a succession of attacks and counter attacks, each in turn ended by handling errors, accentuated by the wet conditions. The match continued in this vein until the 73^rd minute when young referee Craig Evans, a member of the new WRU Referees’ Academy, spotted a misdemeanour on the ground by the Felinfoel back row. His reaction was immediate in brandishing a yellow card, and he awarded a penalty to the home side. It was from wide out, 32 metres from the posts, but Rees made no mistake and his kick put the home side 13-6 ahead, something that was to prove decisive .

A string of stoppages prolonged the half again, but Felinfoel now sensed that one final flurry could snatch them a draw. With the Aber pack unable to exert the pressure they were capable of, any incursion into the Aber 22 brought danger for the home side. The unthinkable happened eventually when the visitors had a scrum five metres from the Aber line. Aber tried their best to keep the attack at bay, but when Mason came into the line he took the long way round behind his team mates and squeezed in at the corner for a try. His conversion could have drawn the match, but such a result would have been a travesty; in the event the kick went wide and the referee blew no side to give Aberystwyth a deserved victory, albeit by the narrow margin of 13-11.

Next Saturday sees the first round of this year’s SWALEC Plate, but Aber have drawn a bye so they now have a fortnight’s respite before continuing their campaign at Builth Wells the following week.

Alan Jones