Fixture

Todays home game with Bryncethin began with an impeccably observed minutes silence in honor of Anthony Brian Williams who tragically passed away on Friday at only 43 years of a tragic waste and our thoughts go out to Bri's family during these sad times. Bri was a talented outside half or centre with a prodigious boot and an aggressive attitude to defense that saw many a crash ball centre come to a halt abruptly in a monster hit. My own favorite memory of him playing was his windmill dummys that were inevitably bought and saw him slice through the gap a tragic loss at an unbelievably young age RIP Bri theres some centres playing in heaven tonight in for a right battering.
The boys paid their own tribute by starting like a train and soon Jack Holland was set free and true to form he scorched over in the corner untouched for the opening try. Soon we were back on the offensive and quick hands and hard running opened a gap for Pepsi to take and score a second try in a breathless opening 5 minutes. It got even worse for Bryncethin when john Hapgood used the forward power established by the forwards in front of him to cross for another try the big fellas up front including his brother and the aggressive Ian Watts were getting the go forward needed for a pushover and John duly cashed in. Straight from the kick off rampaging runs by Owain Phillips, Skonz and Doc with superb lay offs (looked like the Sonny Bill show from the bank) led to Jack once again speeding through a stretched and exhausted defense to score under the posts to give Alex Williams a conversion that he finally managed to convert! 22-0 and we were cruising JD was pulling the strings at 10 despite being potentially the largest 10 in Aber history and a cricket score looked on the cards. However the weather changed from a lovely spring day to a hail storm in seconds and our form went with it, if the team were proving to be fair weather players so were the subs who rushed for the shelter of the stand leaving me and Kelvan to man up like Coelbren boys should!! Bryncethin dug deep and began to get some ball of their own and put some phases together leading to a try of their own the first team to score points at Plas Y Ddol for three games! They followed this up by finishing the half with a superbly struck pen by their tan loving 9. 22-10 to ze Aber at half time and our loss of form was summed up before the pen when Doc inexplicably decided he would be the one to kick to touch despite the proper kickers being all around him and the missing touch abysmally what would have been a line out in the 22 leading to a pen to Bryncethin.
The second half started with Foxy replacing the industrious Dylan Davies but his arrival saw Bryncethin continue their revival with another try 22-17 it was a whole new ball game and it was our turn to dig deep. As Bryncethin tired the strong runners from deep like the Goat and Cellan Eds began to make deep inroads but it was back to forward power we turned to get back in command, Alex Dans and Skonz had been ruling the line out and a series of scrums and line out drives saw John Hapgood cross for his second try on the back of the big boys grunt. The respect the boys had for Bryn was reflected when Doc opted to kick a penalty when offered a penalty outside the 22 Hodge stepped up and obliged with the three points. This was the beginning of the end for spirited Bryncethin and Aber began to dominate with the big runners begining to make huge inroads including a bullocking run by Doc that saw a huge hand off on a Bryn back. For all our efforts though the scoreboard didn't tick over, Dewi Cuthbert blew one chance when set free and Taxi knew the boys needed a spark to get them going again. The Honey Badger did his best to provide it in a 2 minute period that saw him level numerous opponents and Adam Evz!! Still though Bryn hung on and Taxi did his best by putting myself on when the Goat went off injured. The crowd wanted me to go on the wing but into the pack i went and Doc went into the backs much to their disappointment. The crowd included a few injured players who are probably the best looking bunch the club has ever had in Shaver, Cons and Nick Davies (thats 10 pound please boys!) but it was the grizzled old veteran who got things going again. With myself and Foxy in the boiler room the power was obvious Mr Watts who im sure wont mind me describing him as being around a bit told me it was the most power hes ever felt coming through the second row. Adam Evz was the first to benefit from this by finishing off another fine move by the backs for a fine try. To finish off the impressive Skonz benefited from a turn over ensuing from a big hit by yours truly and a rip by Ian Watts that saw him given the ball on the 22. He didn't quite show the pace big Kelv showed on Wed but he did make it to the line for a thoroughly deserved try to cap a mom performance. The ref had seen enough and blew for full time to allow us to have a cold shower just what you need after a game that saw sun, rain, wind, snow and hail chill the bones of the players. Twat of the match was close Dewi Cuthbert nearly got it but Doc despite an impressive appearance outside of his kick must get it for taking matters into his own hands when the boys who do it best were all around him. Resolven home next week boys and a big effort will be needed to keep the winning run in the league going.