Gwernyfed RFC - 23

IN one of the greatest comebacks since Lazarus returned from the dead, an Aber side who looked on the verge of the defeat and out for the count, turned the tide in their favour to batter a devastated Gwernyfed and poach a bonus point in the process.

Fielding a side that saw the return of captain Gareth Williams and James Williams - who replaced an injured Paul Cornock (fractured jaw) at number eight - Aber spent the first 20 minutes caught up in a game of defensive chess with a Gwernyfed side, who to their credit had come with the intention of taking the claret and ambers' unbeaten home record.

The tactical deadlock was finally broken when Ryan Williams kicked to the corner for a line-out that the pack drove over for Rhys Willard to score. Danny Haymond converted from the touchline to make it 7-0.

The visitors who showed the most hunger for the majority of the match pressed Aber hard and enjoyed the lion's share of territory.

The claret and ambers gave away several penalties, one of which was converted by the visitors to make it 7-3. Aber's problems worsened when James Williams was yellow carded for over vigorous rucking.

Gwernyfed employed a tactic of committing few forwards to rucks and maximising men out wide, which paid dividends against a 14 man Aber as the visitors utilised a two man overlap to make it 7-10 going into the interval.

Gwernyfed started the second half in the same vein and a drop goal widened the gap to 7-13. Aber bounced back when scrum half Lewis Evans released Stuart Davies within five yards of the visitors line to score a converted try and hand Aber the lead by a single point.

No sooner had one Williams returned to the field than Captain Gareth Williams had his marching orders from the ref for a 10 minute leave of absence.

Gwernyfed once again capitalised and stretched Aber from wing to wing to make it 14-18.

Not content to rest on their laurels, Gwernyfed bagged their third try on the wing from yet another overlap.

An Aber side that seemed bereft of ideas and struggling against both a 14-23 scoreline and the clock were dealt another blow when Lewis Evans broke from a maul 10 yards from the visitors try line looking odds on to score. Alas, he was tackled feet short and fell awkwardly damaging his knee in the process. The game was stopped immediately and it was some ten minutes before the restart.

Aber, whose Captain had returned, made some substitutions in the return of flanker Tom Reece who took on the scrum half duties and Anton Wells on permit from Brynmawr. The scrum restart saw a huge push from Aber that saw the visitors crumble and a penalty awarded.

Aber went for touch and a resultant driving maul saw a try for Wells, 19-23.

With now minutes to go Aber smelt blood and went through the gears to snatch victory. The forwards now had the upper hand and drove endlessly, at the visitors finally crumbled and allowed Tom Reece an opening to make it 24-23.

With the game in the balance, Tom MacPherson brushed off any remaining doubts and two tacklers to score near the posts. The try was converted by Haymond to make it 31-23.

In the final minute Gwernyfed, throwing caution to the wind, ran from deep, but a loose pass landed in the grateful hands of Danny Haymond who skipped passed the last desperate tackler to score and sign, seal, and deliver the valuable Division Three East points direct to Bailey Park.

Next week Aber are at home in the first round of the SWALEC Plate to local rivals Pontypool Utd. kick off is at 2.30pm.