Aberaeron 43 Pontyberem 12
Admiral National League 3 West
AFTER a successful month away, Abereron returned to Parc Drefach on Saturday with a bonus point win, writes Parry Evans.
The visitors from Pontyberem may not be having a good season but their effort and determination on the day was commendable and for periods in the first half they matched the home forwards with tenacious defence and forward surges.
From the kick off they showed true spirit and were rewarded with a try in the first minutes.
Aberaeron gradually gained parity and a Rhodri Jenkins penalty reduced the deficit before a passage of play created initially from a storming run by No8 Will James allowed an opening for flanker Gethin Jenkins to cross the whitewash with Jenkins adding the extras.
Minutes later, forward pressure with Man Of Match Ceri Davies to the fore created an overlap for wing Dyfrig Dafis to find his way to the corner and a touchline conversion from Jenkins extended the lead.
Unfortunately a poor gather from the restart immediately gave the visitors possession and some questionable defence allowed an opening for their second try to reduce the deficit at the break.
Having been somewhat guilty of not releasing their backline in the first half, it was different in the second period with spaces opening up to exploit.
The main benefactor was Jac Crompton, whose pace and weaving runs from his own half created openings for himself and enterprise was rewarded with the full back registering two tries.
In between, an opportunistic effort from outside half Steff Rees added to the tally, but it was down to the forward brigade for the final word with second row Bleddyn Thomas storming over, allowing Jenkins to complete five conversion successes in the final reckoning.
To their credit Pontyberem never gave up but were always second best on the day. Next up Amman Utd where more of the same will be required to keep pace at the summit.
In mid week the Gwylanod battled hard against a strong Aberystwyth outfit, coming away with a draw from Plascrug.
A converted try by Iwan Lloyd and a penalty from Mathew Harries completed the scoring with Dilwyn Harries adding his third MOM for the season.