Aberaeron 20 Fishguard 19

Another success at Parc Drefach puts Aberaeron into the last sixteen of the Bowl competition but it could very well have been a different story as Fishguard just failed to grasp victory with the last kick of the match. The exciting finale could never have been predicted in the opening half as Aberaeron threatened to run amok racing into a fifteen point advantage in the opening quarter and with the visitors being forced to play uncontested scrums from the outset, there was only going to be one winner. Another try for wing Bleddyn Henson was soon followed by a second for captain Tudur Jenkins and he and his back row partners of Alistair Severs and lively Adam Jones gave plenty of opportunities for a hungry back line. Llyr Davies at outside half added a further five points with a penalty and well struck conversion and the home faithful were confidently looking forward to the next round. It did not take long into the second half for those expectations to look more than a little jittery as the visitors gained confidence with the wind at their backs, reducing the deficit with a well worked try and conversion inside the first five minutes. For whatever reason the home side suffered a period of distinct lapse of concentration and Fishguard capitalised with a second converted try to reduce the deficit to one point. After their first half supremacy Aberaeron were forced onto the backfoot and it took them nearly the full period to recover composure, just about maintaining the slim advantage. With minutes remaining victory seemed to have been assured as a concerted forward effort gave Rhydian Harries the opportunity to cross the line to gain his first try for the club and give more than a little breathing space. But with the referee glancing at his watch another defensive error handed Fishguard their third try albeit seemingly from an offside position, but justice came when the attempted conversion flew wide which also signalled the end of the game. So an exciting finale to a well contested afternoon gives Aberaeron the opportunity to make further progress in the hunt for silverware with a mouthwatering encounter with neighbours Lampeter next on the agenda on February 21.