Fixture

Saturday 18^th February 2017 started with a 06:00hrs departure from Abercarn for the long trek up to Pwllheli for the long awaited Swalec Plate Quarter Final.  The kick off time was altered to 14:30hrs instead of 14:00hrs as advertised by Pwllheli.  We arrived at approximately 11:30hrs which gave the team plenty of time to prepare and relax prior to kick off.  The match took place in front of a crowd of over four hundred spectators at Parc Bodegroes.  One minute's silence was observed by both teams and the crowd in memory of the Ex Pwllheli player Graham Jones who had died suddenly earlier in the week. 

Abercarn started the game with intensity and vigour and after a few phases of accurate play ended up with Pwllheli conceding a penalty from 30 metres out.  As a result outside half Jamie Baker kicked the goal to put Abercarn into a 0-3 lead.  Two minutes later Abercarn were caught napping offside which ended up with them conceding a penalty which drifted wide of the posts.  Both sides were clearly hyped up for the game and heavy tackles flew in from both sides.  The Abercarn eight seemed to have a slight edge in the scrum but the Pwllheli lineout functioned well. Sixteen minutes in and Abercarn won the ball on their right. Pwllheli missed a front up tackle and Abercarn made ground putting the ball through the backlines hands to winger Rhys Morgan who threw a deft dummy before feeding our other winger Aled Brown who finished expertly in the far corner.  Touchline conversion missed by Jamie Baker.  On 21 minutes Pwllheli won loose ball in their own half.  Forwards and backs inter-passed neatly and flanker Ifan Roberts crashed over under the posts. Osian Parry Jones' conversion took the Lleyn side to within a point at 7-8.  A few minutes later the Abercarn pack found their selves camped on their own try line which they defended excellently with some big tackles as they have done all season.  However following 2 penalties a further penalty was conceded and the referee went under the posts to award Pwllheli a penalty try to the bewilderment of the Abercarn supporters.  Parry Jones duly slotted the conversion.  Abercarn had an excellent chance to score another try a few minutes later when second rower Marc Davies picked up from the base of a ruck to skip through a gap and run 30 metres, beating the Pwllheli winger with a deft sidestep before being brought down with a fine tackle a few metres a few metres short of the try line by the Pwllheli fullback.  Half time came with Pwllheli leading by 14-8. 

The opening minutes of the second period didn’t go well for the Abercarn side as three minutes in Kallim Kelemete made a break on the half way line before kicking ahead. A stray bounce of the ball later and Pwllheli Fly half John Pugh collected excellently and outpaced the cover to touch down. With Parry Jones successfully adding the two points Pwllheli looked to be in the driving seat at 21 -8 up.  The Abercarn team had other ideas and remained calm as there was still 35 minutes on the clock.  Abercarn were awarded a penalty in their own 22, but poor discipline from the Pwllheli team ended up with the referee marching them back a further 10 metres.  An excellent penalty touch kick by fly half Baker took Abercarn deep into the Pwllheli twenty two.  Abercarn Hooker Aaron Davies fed the lineout which enabled the Abercarn pack to win clean ball, setup a rolling maul and make ground before releasing an excellent pass to blindside flanker Greg Baker who squeezed in at the corner. The super touchline conversion by Jamie Baker took Abercarn to within six points of Pwllheli.  This was the turning point in the game as the Abercarn side began to dominate the breakdown, tackle area, and at scrum time.  This combined with some excellently timed substitions made a difference and the Abercarn side took on Pwllheli up front starving Pwllheli’s potent back line of the ball. Twenty one minutes into the second half and Abercarn conjured up a fine try from open play. Fly half Jamie Baker’s excellent pass in midfield found centre Jack Davies who was running a perfect line at full tilt that enabled him to crash through two tacklers before carrying a 3^rd tackler over the line to score a fine try.  Jamie Baker added the extras to put the Abercarn side into a 21-22 lead.  This spurred Pwllheli into life with a well worked flair try of their own in the far corner by Berwyn Jones.  With the conversion missed the score was 26-21 with about 15 to play.  Abercarn hit back strongly using a rolling maul to make ground towards the Pwllheli try line.  After sustained pressure Pwllheli replacement Argentinean under 21 import Campos killed the ball and the second row was yellow carded. Winger Rhys Morgan – normally a scrum half took a quick tap penalty to expertly beat the defence and squeeze in at the corner to the delight of the Abercarn travelling fans.  Conversion missed.  This took the score to 26-27 with 6 minutes to play; this seemed to be the killer blow to the huge Pwllheli crowd as they fell silent and feared that their hopes of making the semi-final were beginning to fade.

From the restart Pwllheli took the ball deep into Abercarn's twenty two but were rocked when they were penalised in a ruck. Again the ever reliable Jamie Baker found an excellent touch finder.  From the resultant lineout Abercarn set up a rolling maul which was deemed to have been brought down illegally by the referee who awarded a penalty to Abercarn.  Scrum half Colin Manning took a quick tap penalty and forced his way over the whitewash to score Abercarn’s 5^th try of the match.  Jamie Baker duly added the extras from the touchline making the score 27-34 with 3 minutes to play.  Abercarn were able to see the rest of the match out for a superb away win against division 1 opposition who have only lost at home once in 3 years.

Back at the Club house Pwllheli chose openside Flanker Sean Higgins as their Abercarn man of the match.  Abercarn returned the favour and chose the extremely nimble Pwllheli outside half – Kallim Kelemete as theirs.    The main man of the match award chosen by the supporters and players of Abercarn went to the ever consistant blind side flanker Greg Baker for an outstanding contribution.

A special mention must go to out loyal band of supporters who made the long journey north.  It's really appreicated by both the players and offic

Did anyone expect Abercarn to make it this far in the Plate competition??  What’s next?  Who knows?  #underdogs  #cuprugby!