Newcastle Emlyn’s Dôl Wiber ground was the setting on Saturday for this second round tie in this Season’s SWALEC Plate, the second-tier knockout competition for WRU clubs. Both sides had enjoyed first round byes so it was the first outing in the competition for each of them; Aberystwyth have struggled somewhat in  Division 2 this year, whilst Emlyn have won half their Division 3 games thus far. This was a cup match of course and anything was possible, even though the visitors probably started as favourites.

It was the visitors in fact who made the strongest impression at the outset and were soon attacking the Emlyn line. They came close on the left flank in the sixth minute but lost possession when penalised for not releasing. But they regained the ball immediately and swung out right, then tested the defence with a high kick. Home threequarters floundered and the loose ball bounced over the line to be grounded by Aber full back Llywarch ap Myrddin, following up with intent and pouncing for the ball. Aber continued to press and dominated territory; they went further ahead in the 16^th minute when the home side were penalised for a late tackle, Aber fly half Jason Rees slotting the kick from 25 metres.

Whether Aber then took their collective feet off the pedals or not they seemed to lose their way as Emlyn showed that they were not ready to lie down.  They mounted repeated attacks at their visitors, but the Aber defence seemed to be holding; Emlyn were duly rewarded in the 22^nd minute however when a speculative kick ahead caught the light and dark blues on the hop when centre Gethin Davies won the chase for the line and touched down for Emlyn’s opening try. Outside half Leighton McKenna made no mistake with the conversion and the deficit was down to a single point. Both sides then committed frequent errors in an untidy part of the match, but Emlyn definitely showed they were determined to compete.   The score seemed set to remain to the interval but in the 40^th minute Pembrokeshire referee Andrew Miles disagreed with the Aber contingent who complained of a forward pass by the home threequarters . Play continued and McKenna took the chance to cross over for his side’s second try and a 12-8 lead which remained for the four minutes of stoppage time played.

After the restart the visitors created real chances to restore their position, but they went begging along with two attempts at goal. Newcastle Emlyn were reduced to 14 men when Miles lost his patience with repeated infringements, and came close to losing another when they transgressed again three minutes later. Their punishment however came in the form of cutting their lead when Rees bisected the posts from 35 metres to put his side within one point of their hosts. In true cup-tie style Emlyn bounced back immediately and put on a superlative display of classic back play, creating a huge overlap on the right hand side of the field.  Some inept covering by Aber made it even easier and allowed Davies to cross rather than utilising the men outside him. McKenna converted and the home side were 19-11 up.

But Aber showed that they too were in cup mood by regrouping and retaliating immediately, ap Myrdin claiming his brace in the 53^rd minute; Rees converted to cut the lead once again to a solitary point.  Four minutes later Aber hoisted another ball to test the threequarters in a similar fashion to their first score; Emlyn did better this time but yielded a penalty by not releasing. Backchat cost the home side a further 10 metres, placing the kick within range for Rees, and the number ten made no mistake to put his side two points clear as the scoreboard read 19-21.

It was then Emlyn’s turn to attack and they did so up the left flank with gusto. It is a sad sight in any match to see a serious injury, and the lengthy stoppage to tend to Aber’s Rhodri Richards raised concerns. The centre had sustained a knock to the back of the head but the treatment was thankfully precautionary; he took no further part in the match but it was a fine sight to see him urging on his side from the bench area just ten minutes after reluctantly being stretchered off. The bad news for the visitors however was that play restarted with a penalty to Emlyn, and McKenna duly converted. When he added another penalty a few minutes later he had re-established a lead for his side, now 25-21 up, 69 minutes into the match.

It was time for Aber to compose themselves again and they did that effectively and within five minutes were exerting strong pressure just outside the Emlyn 22. When they were penalised, indiscipline again cost Emlyn the extra 10 metres, but this time the young livewire scrum-half Ifan Beynon-Thomas showed real pace in racing towards and over the line to put Aber back in the lead 25-26 with 39 minutes gone. The lengthy stoppage however made it unclear how much time remained, and Newcastle Emlyn had thoughts that did not comply with Aber’s desire to kill down the game. When Aber were penalised 38 metres from their line after 86 minutes, the victory seemed to go to the home side when McKenna kicked another superb penalty to put his side 28-26 up.  The situation seemed to be confirmed when McKenna was given an opportunity to kick again, from 45 metres, in the 88^th minute. But that ball fell short and Aber had no option but to counter attack from their own line. Emlyn were penalised on Aber’s 22 to give the blues another chance and the visitors paraded upfield in controlled fashion. After nine phases of play they approached the Emlyn 22, and from a ruck Beynon-Thomas passed back to Rees, poised 33 metres out. The fly half duly took his chance, but the ball was sailing close to the right side of his target. He caught the inside of the upright however and the successful dropped goal put Aber 28-29 up in the 93^rd minute. Miles adjudged there was still time to play and Emlyn attacked purposefully. Just outside the Aber 22 however the visitors turned over the ball, and the clearing kick prompted no-side, the visitors through by a single point.

It was a hard-fought cup tie that Aber arguably could have sewn up very early on; to their credit however Emlyn fought back every inch of the way. Aber probably just deserved their victory but it was very close. They now enter the third round in mid-January.

In the meantime Aber have one more League outing in 2011 as they travel to League leaders Glynneath next Saturday for what promises to be a difficult match. A result would be a true Christmas bonus.

Alan Jones