ABER RUGBY UNION TRIUMPH 22-3 WIN OVER BANGOR ICING ON THE CAKE FOR TEAM ABER
Tomos Nolan
Men’s First Team Captain, Matt Spicer, surges forward to bring the trophy home for Team Aber
Caleb Spencer IF THERE was any doubt as to the importance of Varsity, then the atmosphere at the rugby club last night will have put to bed any such thoughts. The venue, the home of Aberystwyth RFC, was a superb choice for the Men’s Rugby Union and especially on such a beautiful spring evening with such a volume of vocal and passionate supporters. Three unanswered tries from Sam Howells, Colin Overend, and Connor Ward secured what was, in the end, a comfortable 22-3 victory for Aberystwyth. Some heroic, and sometimes brutal, Bangor defending certainly gave them
a run for their money, and if it wasn’t for Aber’s clear dominance in the scrum, Bangor might have had a better platform from which to attack. Early Aber pressure invariably came in the form of the ball-carrying abilities of loosehead prop and manmountain, Sam Howells. Although his storming runs did relieve some pressure on the backs, Aber’s handling errors and a missed kick to touch cost them much of their hard-earned possession. In the tenth minute of the game, Aber were penalised for a late tackle and the penalty was coolly converted by Bangor fly-half and captain, Dom Hogan, making it 0-3. With Bangor smelling blood,
they continued to put pressure on the Aber defence, and in the 15th minute they were rewarded with another penalty from 30 metres directly in front of the posts. On this occasion, Hogan was unable to convert and there was a palpable sense of a missed opportunity amongst the Bangor fans. Some exciting hands and footwork from Aber captain Matt Spicer, full-back Will Lowe, and winger Chris Dennehy brought Aber deep into opposition territory only for a crucial pass to be dropped. From the resulting scrum near Bangor’s five-metre line, a big Aber push won them the ball within striking distance and Howells was able to receive the ball at pace, and power his
way through for Aber’s first score. Aber fly-half Patrick Jones was able to convert from a tricky angle to make it 7-3. The turning point in the game came five minutes before the half, when Bangor winger Ethan Morris was put in the sinbin for a dangerous tackle on Aber winger Dennehy. There were immediate and loud cries of protest from large sections of the crowd and Dennehy was forced to exit the game prematurely due to injury. Aber were clearly determined to punish Bangor for their indiscipline and the opportunity came about a minute from half-time. After winning their own line out on the Bangor 22, Aber utilised (Continued on page 7)
Varsity coverage produced with thanks to Sam Meadows, Mitch Rushton, Kisha Matthew, Rhian Hughes, Harry Taylor, Laura Say, Nick Robinso, Cameron Smyth, Alex Pike, Andrew Simpson, Ed Cullen, Poppy Tester, Tomos Nolan, Tom Davies, Rebecca James, Lauren Roberts, James Ruff, Sarah Thornhill, Alex Tanton, Ryan Owens, Cassie Smyth, Alasdair Park, Adam Bright, Caleb Spencer, Joe Benton, Jack Hocking, Dave Webber, Robert Sheargold, Finn Shillitto, Nadine El-Amani, Huw Carey, Andy Burridge, Aisling Gallagher and thank you to Liv Prewett and the Activities Office.