68 Sport


League 1 West Llanelli Wanderers Aberystwyth


21 10


ABERYSTWYTH suffered


defeat at the hands of Llanelli Wanderers on Saturday (Jan 28), as they lost 21-10. The home side had taken Aber’s


long-standing unbeaten home record earlier in the season and were expected to be formidable opposition on their own patch – and so it proved. Conditions were good as the


home side chose to play down the slope in the first half. Within a few


minutes, Aber were penalised for a ruck offence and number 10 Lloyd Thomas put over the kick from 45 metres out to open the scoring. This was followed minutes later


by a drop goal by winger DeFillipo to put the home side 6-0 ahead. Aber were under severe pressure


in the first quarter of the game as Wanderers launched attack after attack, but the visitors’ resolute defending prevented the home team from going further ahead. Eventually, the visitors came


more and more into the game and possession and territory were evenly shared and vigorously defended.


Aber scrummaged competitively


in the first half which, considering the absence of their regular second rows and much rearranged back row, was very much to their credit. In the line-outs, the visitors


competed but were generally outclassed by the home side jumpers and spoilers. In the loose, the visitors covered and tackled well but it was clear that the home side’s tactic of taking the ball on the burst was taking its toll on the Aber defence. Towards half-time, Aber prop


Kevin Jones was shown a yellow card for pulling down a maul near their line. The home side made full


Double delight for Croſt twins THERE WAS DOUBLE delight


for Crymych’s all-conquering Croft twins at Crymych Leisure Centre last Friday (Jan 27). 15-year-old Ioan and Garan


displayed their full repertoire of silky skills en route to split-decision victories over highly-rated Durham opponents Josh Babb and Robert Towers (both Ward Degnans ABC) respectively. Southpaw Ioan was at his elusive


best against the shorter Babb, The Cardigan boxer scored with an eye-catching right-hand jab in the opening round as the Durham boy sought to engage at close quarters. While Babb maintained an


effective work-rate, the quality shots were coming from his Welsh opponent - a spearing straight left drawing a rueful smile from the visitor. Realising he was trailing on


points, Babb raised the tempo in the final round, only for most of punches to meet empty air as Croft danced and shimmied to an exceptional victory. And it also proved a memorable


night for Garan, currently in exceptional form. While in the past Garan has


shown a tendency to be dragged into brawls, this time he deployed his boxing skills to great effect against Towers – and was rewarded with the Best Boxer of the Night award. Yet, the show was almost stolen


by 12-year-old Kaya Evans-Knight, of Parcllyn, who outworked and outlasted Shauna Miller (Baglan Bulldogs) in a rousing display. A ferocious onslaught in the


second round saw the Port Talbot girl pinned in her own corner and Evans- Knight maintained the pressure to secure a unanimous decision as well as the best Cardigan Boxer of the Night award. Another first-time Cardigan


ABC winner was Fishguard’s Mikey O’Sullivan, who produced an astonishing work-rate to secure a unanimous points win over Jim Price (Pontypool ABC). Two other boxers - Letterston


Ben Rees-Davies, MC on the night: With Garan Croft, Best Boxer of the Night and Kaya Evans-Lewis, Best Cardigan Boxer of the Night


duo Cai Llewellyn and Adam Lawrence - went heartbreakingly close, both dropping split decisions against Alex Sherratt (St Peters) and Lewis Bennett (Ward Degnans) respectively. During the interval, Cardigan’s


Jake Jones boxed an entertaining exhibition with Tonteg’s C J Jones. Cardigan ABC head coach Guy


Croft, who had earlier expressed frustration that Cardigan junior lightweight Ollie Jones and Aberporth senior light-welter Erin Lewis had seen their opponents pull out, was nevertheless delighted with the quality match-ups “As always, a lot of hard work


goes into a home show but it’s all proved worthwhile and the


support we get here in Crymych is unbelievable,” he said. MC for the night was former


Cardigan ABC boxer Ben Rees- Davies, now a serving soldier with the Royal Welsh Regiment and a member of the Army’s elite boxing squad. Other results: Graham Hickson


(Ward Degnans) beat Rhys Jones (Tonteg) unan; John Kerrigan (St Peters) beat Zak Sowerby (Ward Degnans) split; Francy Doherty (Pinewood) beat Kyle O’Sullivan (Merlins Bridge) ret second rd; Tommy Cole (Pinewood) beat Kieran Bevan (Premier) unan; Jack Lambert (Karmand) beat Joe Anthony (Towy) unan; Jake Anthony (Towy) beat Sean Nelson (Ward Degnans) split.


use of this numerical advantage to increase pressure on the visitors’ defence. This resulted in two tries in quick succession. The first came from a catch and


drive at a five metre line-out and was soon followed by a good break from outside centre George, who fed number 10 Thomas to score. Both conversions failed but the Wanderers were comfortably ahead at 16-0 and well in control as the half-time whistle was blown. Surprisingly,


the visitors


persisted with the same tactics in the second half when using the slope and kicking to the corners would have served them better. This reluctance to change approach, coupled with aggressive pressure from the home side, reduced Aber’s opportunities considerably. The pressure told as players


suffered knocks and had to be replaced. This, together with a few substitutions, further disrupted their play. Although the home side’s kicking out of hand was superior to Aber’s, the visitors did make ground and when they were awarded a penalty 22m out, Steffan Rees made no mistake with the kick to put them on the scoresheet at 16-3. As the home side became more


confident of building on their lead, they left more space behind their three quarters. This cried out for better use of


the slope with tactical kicking to the corners, but Aber kept to the same pattern of confronting the opposition in a physical battle instead of out- thinking them. This approach was not helped by some baffling


THE HERALD FRIDAY FEBRUARY 3 2017


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Aberystwyth sunk by Wanderers


decisions by the referee, most of which went against the visitors. Aber’s try came from a neat


interception by Gruff Jones as he raced 50 metres to score under the posts, crowning a good performance in his 40th consecutive appearance for the 1st XV. Steffan Rees converted to bring


the score to 16-10 and the possibility of a losing bonus point loomed. It was inevitable that tireless


tackling and covering would eventually take its toll on the Aber players and the home side made better and better use of the superior possession they had enjoyed throughout the game to attack. Cracks began to appear in the


visitors’ defence and it was very much with the run of play that Wanderers’ wing forward Elgan Morgan finished off an attack with a try in the corner. The conversion was missed and the game ended at 21-10 to the home side. Not one of Aber’s players could


be criticised for lack of effort or commitment. Paul Stubbs and his fellow back row forwards did their best as did Bryn Shepherd at second row.


The front row scrummaged well


and held their ground. Behind the scrum, Aber were usually under pressure as the home side backs were allowed to come up very quickly to disrupt the flow of visitors’ attacks. But, despite these efforts,


Aber’s failure to recognise where advantages could be gained and the game possibly won cost them dearly. In this respect, they did not do themselves justice.


Evans is best placed Brit DOLGELLAU-BASED Elfyn


Evans was the best placed British driver as he finished sixth overall in the opening round of the World Rally Championship (WRC). Taking place in Monte Carlo on


the weekend of January 20-22, the rally was the first event for Evans since his return to the WRC. Evans, 28, and co-driver Daniel


Barritt won three of the 17 stages in Monte Carlo in the M-Sport Ford Fiesta. He scored DMACK’s first fastest


time on stage 10, then stormed through stage 12 to finish 7.4 seconds ahead of his nearest rival Sebastien Ogier. On stage 13, a flat-out blast on


clean, dry asphalt roads, Evans blitzed the pack again to dominate the day. The event was won by Evans’


teammate and reigning champion Sebastien Ogier, who was more than six minutes ahead of Evans. Toyota’s Jari-Matti Latvala


finished in second place, with M-Sport’s Ott Tanak in third. Elfyn had previously driven for


M-Sport in 2014/15 but made the step down to WRC2 in 2016. Elfyn Evans said: “It’s a fantastic


start to the season for us. We didn’t have a great day on Friday but Saturday’s performance more than made up for that and really raised some eyebrows. I was very happy with my driving and the feeling with the car and tyres was really positive. It was easy to work with Daniel again; everything gelled together right from the start.” Dick Cormack, DMACK


managing director, said: “Last season saw our gravel products challenge for WRC victories and this year has started exceptionally well for our Tarmac tyres. We have to be pleased with the result on what has been some of the toughest Monte conditions for a few years; it’s a big step forward for us. Elfyn has driven exceptionally well all weekend and huge congratulations are due to M-Sport for winning on the debut of their new Fiesta.” The second round of the WRC starts in Sweden on Thursday (Feb 9).


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