Aberaeron 17 Furnace 12

Despite the adverse conditions, the sparse crowd at Parc Drefach were served with an entertaining afternoon as Aberaeron duly gained revenge over table topping Furnace. A strong gale and intermittent driving rain could have spoilt the game as a spectacle but credit to both sides for displaying excellent skills under such poor conditions. Surprisingly Furnace chose to play with the wind at their backs in the first half, and the lack of real advantage at the break proved to be their eventual downfall as the hosts dominated the second period. With ball in hand the visitors backline looked very useful and they opened the scoring mid way through the half , only for Aberaeron to reply within minutes, centre Owen Williams crashing through the defence to allow Llyr Davies to add the conversion. It was very much nip and tuck and it took a lapse of concentration by the home defence for the visitors to regain the lead with another well worked try for a slim five point advantage at the break. With the conditions deteriorating the home forwards took control right from the restart, the scrum being very comfortable where Deiniol Evans, Rhydian Harries and man of the match Alex Danton are developing with every game. Immediately behind there was another masterful display of lineout work by Leighton Daniel with the old workhorse Nathan Best not far behind in the honours. It was therefore of little surprise that Aberaeron drew level minutes into the second period as pressure on the Furnace defence gave wing Bleddyn Henson his first try for the club. By this stage play was virtually confined to the visitors half, with wave after wave threatening the try line. The all important score soon came as another attack from the base of the scrum resulted in Alistair Severs creating the opportunity for scrum half Carl Williams to also gain his first try for the club. There were opportunities to extend the lead and gain the all important bonus point, but a mixture of dour defence and over elaboration put paid to any further scoring. Tudur Jenkins was indeed a proud captain at the final whistle as another victory against much fancied opposition keeps up the momentum, whilst also adding another boost to confidence. League action takes a break on Saturday with the second round of the Swalec Bowl competition taking centre stage, Aberaeron playing hosts to Fishguard.