Brynmawr RFC - 10

Aberavenny RFC - 10

ON a crisp, sunny afternoon in Brynmawr with conditions ideal for running rugby, both Abergavenny and their local rivals were left frustrated by a game littered with errors and the blight of heavy handed refereeing.

Going into this fiercely contested local derby, it added a little extra spice that Abergavenny players such as Steve Coles (lock) and Joe Powell (wing) had previously represented Brynmawr, and the home team's Nathan Preece (outside half) had played briefly for Abergavenny last season.

In the wake of relegation, Brynmawar are not the team they were but remain a formidable outfit, and Saturday's match provided Aber with an ideal opportunity to take an important league scalp away from home.

Rob Lothian stepped into the tighthead position to replace the injured Frank James, and gained plenty of scrum practice with the subsequent wealth of infringements and knock- ons.

In the absence of Ryan Williams, Will Williams slotted into full back, otherwise the Abergavenny side was the same as won at Risca last week.

After an equal opening quarter, it was Brynmawr who drew first blood.

From a line-out to the tail the home team fed their backs and Nathan Preece feigned back inside and kicked long to the corner and the ball sat up nicely for their winger to score. A long range conversion saw Brynmawr take a 7-0 lead.

Brynmawr were awarded three more penalties as Aber were penalised for offences around the breakdown area, but fortunately for the visitors, these kicks were not capitalised upon.

Both team's line-outs functioned well, with Rhys Willard making his presence felt, as Aber benefitted from the usual precision of Gareth Williams

Each side also looked to move the ball wide but neither had the luxury of continuity of play due to the incessant stop and start nature of the game.

Strike runners Will Williams and Stuart Davies looked dangerous whenever they had the ball in open play, yet the final pass just didn't go to hand.

The second half began well for the visitors. A scrum on halfway two minutes in saw the ball find Stuart Davies who pinned his ears back and ran straight through the defence from 50 yards to score a try, converted by James Harris to level proceedings.

The frustrations of both sides boiled over in the second half and the penalty count rose. Aber lost flanker Josh Hitchman to a yellow card resulting from a high tackle and Brynmawr lost a forward for talking back to the referee.

Brynmawr threatened Aber's line due to tackling in open play not reaching the standards of previous weeks, but the visitors' scrum performed well and had the drive on the home side.

Full back Will Williams had to retire injured, forcing Stuart Davies to fill his shoes, which reduced the visitors' potency to attack in open play from deep.

Despite this, Harris nudged Aber in front with a penalty kick from out wide, 7-10.

Soon after openside Tom Rees was shown yellow for an infringement at a scrum, which gave Brynmawr the opportunity to level the scores. They gratefully obliged with a penalty on the ten yard line

to take their share of the spoils as the last few minutes of the game passed without incident or points.

Next week Aber entertain Tredegar Ironsides at Bailey Park hoping to extend their unbeaten run to four games. Kick off is at 2.30pm.