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NEWCASTLE EMLYN 18   ABERYSTWYTH 5

For the first time in their thirty seven year existence Newcastle Emlyn have progressed to the semi-final stage of the Welsh Rugby Union Plate competition. Their successful season continued on Saturday when in front of a large crowd they managed to defeat their fellow Ceredigion rivals, Aberystwyth, in an error ridden display on a windy day at Dol Wiber.

Undoubtedly the strong cross wind had an effect on the game as the normally fluid Emlyn three quarters made more mistakes in this match than they probably have all season. That they eventually prevailed was due to a superb performance by the forwards who really took the game to their opponents and dominated the match territorially. Much had been made beforehand of the power of the Aberystwyth pack especially as a scrummaging unit, on the day it was the Emlyn front row that dominated this facet of play. From the first scrum when Aberystwyth were shunted backwards at a rate of knots Captain and loose head Dai Jones, hooker Alex Williams, and tight head Gethin Davies dominated this area of the game. Up against the experienced Prys Lewis, Gethin Davies had a superb game and thoroughly deserved his man of the match award.

The first half proved to be a scrappy affair with both sides competing fiercely for the loose ball, which more often than not ended in the excellent referee Neil Jones penalising one side or the other for not releasing the ball. The Aberystwyth side had obviously done their homework on the Emlyn backs and, excellently led by outside centre Luke Williams, defended very well as Emlyn tried to attack them out wide.

Aberystwyth, led by their number eight Daniel Binks, looked to attack Emlyn through their forwards in this half but found the gain line difficult to breach as the Emlyn defence proved to be rock solid. Emlyn’s best chance of a score in this half came from a line out. Following an excellent two handed catch by Arwel Davies the Emlyn drive looked well organised and was progressing towards the Aber line when for some reason the ball was dropped and the visitors were able to clear their line.   

The only score of the half was a penalty goal kicked by Dan Davies after some twenty five minutes. The strong running winger did create two half chances for himself but in the first instance the Aberystwyth cover forced him into touch and in the second one his kick ahead failed to clear the only Aberystwyth player in front of him. Aberystwyth had one opportunity but the normally reliable Jason Rees saw the wind take his effort wide of the posts.

With a slight wind advantage Emlyn really came at Aberystwyth at the start of the second half. From a scrum just inside the Aber half they shunted the visitors off the ball and number eight Brynmor Jones picked up and drove deep into the Aber twenty two. From the resultant ruck Aberystwyth were penalised and Davies increased Emlyn’s lead with a penalty kick.

The Emlyn pack now started to exert a stranglehold on the game with second rows Arwel Davies and Dyfed Morgan winning some good lineout ball. The back row of Brynmor Jones, Joel James and Gareth Patterson also began to gain the upper hand in the loose. Patterson who came on in the first half for the injured Owain Powell combined well with James and both had productive games.

On the quarter hour Emlyn increased their lead when Arwel Davies stole the ball on an Aberystwyth throw. The forwards went through some quick rucks before the ball was transferred along the line for full back Shaun Leonard to squeeze over in the corner for a try.

Any thoughts Emlyn had of relaxing with a fairly comfortable lead were quickly dispelled by the visitors. Within a couple of minutes they were on the scoreboard when from a quickly taken tap penalty on the half way line  they moved the ball wide and centre Paul Bumford crossed for a well worked try.

Emlyn coach Marc Lloyd then introduced experienced outside half Rhidian Harries and he proceeded to pen Aberystwyth deep into their own half with some excellent kicking out of hand. Buoyed by the birth of his and Heledd’s first child the outside half proceeded to control territory for the rest of the game. Following one of his raking touch finders Emlyn won the resultant line out and when a succession of forward drives were halted, winger Dan Davies appeared on scrum half Mike Jones’ shoulder to cross by the posts for a try which he converted.

Aberystwyth never gave up and when they did get the ball they attempted to run from deep but found the well organised Emlyn defence led by centres Alun Howells and Viv Jenkins impossible to breach. This was a typically tense hard fought Cup match between two old rivals.