ABERYSTWYTH beat Kidwelly 28 – 27 in their first home game in National League 1 West of the season, writes Graham Harris.

Aber won an exciting and well contested match by the narrowest of margins, the home side struggling to convert territorial pressure into points.

On a balmy early autumn day with good ground conditions but a variable gusting wind, Aber controlled parts of the game with a dominant scrum (Kidwelly conceding numerous scrum penalties) and solid lineout work, but failed to pull clear of the visitors.

Straight from their kick off Aber were quickly winning rucks and pushing play up to the visitors try line.

Following a tapped Aber scrum penalty and a fluid move by the backs, a cynical offside interception by Kidwelly resulted in a penalty try and yellow card.

Kidwelly were quickly on the front foot from the restart and fly half Declan Smith converted a penalty into three points.

Aber were soon back deep in the visitors’ territory with excellent work in the loose, but pressure was relieved when the ball was held up by Kidwelly over their try line.

Aber’s scrum was showing it’s dominance and a scrum penalty was converted into three points by Dylan Benjamin.

Kidwelly fielded a kick that missed touch on halfway and their wing Shaun Pearce broke through gaps in Aber’s defensive line to score a converted try.

From the restart the visitors won a lineout on Aber’s 10 metre line and poor tackling by the hosts saw Rhodri Taylor cross for a converted try.

Good penalty kicking for territory by Aber’s Benjamin pushed play close to Kidwelly’s try line.

Solid lineout work and a scrum penalty five metres out resulted in the awarding of a penalty try for Aber.

The second half resulted in more dominance by Aber’s scrum, and penalties kicked for territory were rebuffed by solid defence by the visitors.

A Kidwelly move on halfway was broken up by Aber’s Benjamin who released centre Jac Jones and an inside pass allowed fly half Tommy Sandford to score an unconverted try.

Both sides now traded penalties on goal scoring three points apiece to keep it a tight game.

The visitors then edged ahead with another converted try by centre Pearce, the result of lapse Aber defensive work.

A massive Aber scrum on Kidwelly’s 10 metre line pushed the visitors back 15 metres, and from the resulting scrum penalty Benjamin slotted the three points over for the final score of the game – an Aber win by one point.

A very good performance by Aber that deserved a more decisive score line.

Dominance in scrum and lineout was not converted into points, and lapses in defence allowed the visitors back in the game.