Kidwelly 22 Aberystwyth 46

Admiral National League 1 West

ABERYSTWYTH beat Kidwelly 46 - 22 on the road to clinch the Admiral National League 1 West title, with a bonus point win, and gain promotion to WRU Championship West, writes Graham Harris.

In an historic day for Aberystwyth RFC, the team has reached it's highest ever position in WRU divisions, celebrating with bubbly and an aerial fly past with blue and white vapour trails.

On a glorious, sunny day in Kidwelly, with a stiff breeze blowing diagonally across the pitch making kicking and lineouts difficult, Aber secured the bonus point win needed to snatch the title from other promotion contenders Tenby RFC - both sides nearly 30 points clear of the rest of the division.

A large contingent of Aber supporters made the trip by coach and car to provide vocal support and a blue wall.

Aber started the game on the front foot with good early rucks and a penalty kick to the corner, but Kidwelly defended well.

A home side scrum on halfway was disrupted by Aber, and pressured ball from the base of the scrum was intercepted by Aber's Dafydd Llyr Hywel who passed to centre Jac Jones who raced in for an unconverted try.

Kidwelly were playing with the wind and soon penalty kicks pinned Aber back deep in their half.

A Kidwelly lineout and maul on Aber's 22 metres was spread wide and full back Dale Ford scored an unconverted try.

Due the strong wind, Aber penalties were scrummaged and their forwards were becoming dominant in set plays. A penalty scrum 10 metres out allowed Aber number 8 Lee Truck to cross for an unconverted try.

Kidwelly kept the pressure on Aber with their backs scoring a break away try from rucks on halfway, fly half Declan Smith crossing to level the scores.

Aber's forwards were becoming more dominant in scrums and rucks, allowing their backs to push play close to Kidwelly's try line, and a 5 metre scrum saw captain Charles Thomas score a try converted by Dylan Benjamin.

Aber had now come to terms with the wind and a good lineout win set up a rolling maul close to Kidwelly's try line. A tapped Aber penalty resulted in a yellow card for Kidwelly and Aber's scrum 5 metres out allowed Lee Truck to score a push over try converted by Benjamin to secure the try bonus point before half time.

Half time score: Kidwell 10 Aberystwyth 24

Aber were now playing with the gusting wind in the second half and were soon kicking penalties to touch and putting more pressure on Kidwelly territorially.

A Kidwelly lineout 10 metres from their line was overthrown and Aber's hooker Iestyn Thomas pounced on the loose ball to run in an unconverted try.

Kidwelly tried to inject pace into the game by tapping penalties, but Aber were ruthless in ripping the ball in the loose, and breaks by Dafydd Llyr Hywel and Carwyn Evans put Charles Thomas in for his second try converted by Benjamin.

Restarts were being well fielded by Aber's winger Ben Lloyd-Jones, and following a series of Aber rucks and a move by the backs, Lee Truck scored his third try.

Aber kept going, and a break by centre Jac Jones released Paul Stubbs who sprinted 50 metres from halfway to score an unconverted try on his 301st appearance, to popular and rapturous cheering from the sizeable contingent of Aber supporters.

Kidwelly were determined to fight back and put together some late moves by their three-quarters, resulting in fly half Declan Smith scoring an unconverted try and scrum half Tom Morgan scoring a try in the corner in the last minute to gain a well deserved try bonus point. By then though the game was effectively over.

Man of the Match: the Aber squad.

A large crowd of Aber supporters made the trip down to Kidwelly to celebrate an historic victory, title and promotion, creating a sea of blue - an unforgettable day. This was fitting reward for an Aber team who have continued to play open, entertaining rugby all season, with dedication, skill, and hard work.

Many congratulations to the squad of players, coaches, behind the scenes staff, chairman, committee and sponsors.

The team has done the town, mid-Wales local communities, and supporters proud. Bring on the Championship. Allez les Bleus.