Aberaeron 24 Penygroes 3
Despite the disadvantage of having to play uncontested scrums from the first whistle, Aberaeron maintained their push for promotion with a last gasp try to gain a valuable bonus point. Never easy opposition to play against ,the visitors set their stall out with a game plan to disrupt any continuity and fluency from the home side and combined with the inactivity in the set piece the home support were forced to suffer a frustrating afternoon. The opening quarter was evenly matched with little opportunity to gain supremacy and it took a flash o individual enterprise to unlock the Penygroes defence. Receiving the ball near halfway, outside half Llyr Davies outwitted several would be tacklers to race under the posts for his eleventh try of the campaign. Full bach Iestyn Thomas added the conversion, but any further forays were repelled, sometimes frantically, and Penygroes gave themselves a glimmer of hope with a penalty on the stroke of half time. The game followed the same pattern in the opening minutes of the second period, with the visitors increasingly overstepping the mark which eventually and justifiably resulted in 2 yellow and a red card. Credit to Aberaeron for maintaining their composure and they were duly rewarded when top scorer Gareth Flynn took the glory after all 8 forwards crossed the line. The additional points from Thomas created a cushion from there on and another rolling maul gave captain Tudur Jenkins the opportunity to extend the lead which he took in his stride. There then followed a period of tension and with the clock ticking down a created overlap released centre Owen Williams to cross over resulting in a huge sigh of relief from the tense environment. So Aberaeron complete their home league fixtures undefeated at Parc Drefach this season, a feat which has not been accomplished for many a term. Now the focus will turn to the 3 remaining away games which will determine if elevation to a higher level beckons when the silverware is handed out at the end of the season. The rearranged match against Penygroes is next up on Wednesday evening and it is indeed a case of taking one game at a time over the next 10 days.