A consequence of the absence of autumn internationals in World Cup Year is that the second half of the League season starts in November, and so Saturday brought visitors Skewen to Plascrug for a re-run of the opening match of the 2011-12 campaign. Last year the two sides shared the spoils, each winning at home, and the September match had seen Skewen scrape home by two points in a match that Aberystwyth will surely regard as one that got away when the year is audited.

Aberystwyth would then have approached this match with reasonable confidence, but wary that their opponents had achieved several good results after their last meeting, and that although they had lost six times, five of those were close enough to earn a losing bonus point.

Late replacement referee Ieuan Williams from Flint started the match and was kept on his toes as both sides ran at each other from the outset. The sides kept each other at bay however until Skewen made a half break just inside the Aber half and spread the ball as they went for the line. It was lacklustre tackling from the Aber threequarters however that eventually allowed Skewen centre Matthew Wyatt to cross for their first try. The deceptive swirling wind made the afternoon a difficult one for goalkickers but visiting fly half and skipper Richard Davies allowed well for the conditions in adding the two points. The match continued in the same vein but the increasing error rate tended to spoil it as a spectacle. The visitors created a few good chances in the first half but they were denied by a mixture of basic errors and wrong options. Davies took on a hopeful penalty attempt from the halfway area in the 25^th minute; the ball took a curious trajectory, but the outside half had perfectly controlled the wind again and the ball crept inside the near post to put his side 10 points clear. Three minutes later however his opposite number Jason Rees showed similar skills in landing a 38 metre penalty at the other end.

Skewen attacked from the restart and surged towards the Aber line. There did not seem to be great pressure when Aber had the throw at a lineout six metres out from their own line. They failed to take the ball, but then again so did their opponents and the ball went to ground on the Aber side of the lineout; but it was Skewen’s hooker Rhys Jenkins who proved to be the most alert as he burst through on the narrow side and touched down for his side’s second try. Davies landed a spectacular touchline conversion and suddenly the home side were 17-3 adrift with seven minutes to go to half time. A score was now vital for Aber and they attacked Skewen determinedly and created a gap on the left side of the field. The threequarters seemed destined to score but as the ball went loose referee Williams immediately turned on his heels and raced to the posts to award a penalty try, apparently for a deliberate knock-on.  Rees duly bisected the uprights with the conversion and Aber were back to 10-17 down at the interval.

The home side started the second half with renewed vigour and visibly created problems near the Skewen tryline. They created chances and came desperately close early in that second half. The threequarters were in full flow, save perhaps lacking coordination between synchronising passes with the appearance of Skewen defenders. One such move that was arguably the best of the afternoon came to naught when the final pass from centre to wing was shockingly poor and possession was lost metres short of the line. To add insult to the injury, they then transgressed at the ensuing scrum, thereby yielding position as well as possession.

There followed a half hour of the same – promise followed by frustration as both sides squandered possession far too easily. Both sides came close, but neither close enough to cause any activity on the scoreboard, and the score remained 10-17 to the very end. It was disappointing play, and a disappointing afternoon for the crowd that contained a very sizeable Skewen contingent that continued to display Club commitment and camaraderie in the Clubhouse afterwards.

At the end of the day Aberystwyth will again view this as another that slipped away. They showed enough promise at times to suggest victory was within their grasp, but at the same time showed themselves lacking in finishing skills, ending just short of crossing that fine line that separates success from failure. The few sides below them in the League have shown improvement in their results lately, and Aber must dig deep to consolidate their current position. With the solitary autumn international of the year kicking in next week, they now have three weeks before visiting League leaders Glynneath in their last League game of 2011. In the meantime they travel to Newcastle Emlyn next Saturday week for their opening appearance in this year’s SWALEC Plate.

Alan Jones