ABERGAVENNY tightened their grip at the top of the Welsh League Division Three East with a convincing 33-10 victory over Old Illtydians in Cardiff on Saturday.

Aber entered the weekend on points difference with second placed Senghenydd, with three games in hand, and added to their excellent start to the campaign with a seventh win of the season to date.

The visitors had dominated mid-tabled Old Illtydians for the first 20 minutes and finally broke the deadlock through Andrew Delaney. After constant pressure scrummaging on the hosts' line, Abergavenny won a lineout resulting in a moving maul on the right wing and Delaney touching over.

That was followed by a superb individual try from centre Gareth Hughes-Jones, who shouldered the ball 60 yards from the line and sprinted through the gap to cap Abergavenny's first half dominance. A push-over try from number eight James Williams before the break, coupled with two conversions from James Didcote, saw the league leaders cruise into the interval with 19 points on the board.

Prior to Saturday's clash, Old Illtydians had the unenviable record of being one of the division's lowest scorers - and had failed to reply to Abergavenny in the first 40 minutes.

After the break, the hosts did manage a spirited comeback, quickly amassing ten points from a converted try and a penalty to claw the deficit back to 19-10. But Aber were soon celebrating again after being awarded a penalty try for a collapsed scrum, which Didcote again converted.

Ben Rutter, aged just 19, came on as a late substitute in the back row and capped his cameo appearance with the fifth Abergavenny try. Didcote then kicked his fourth conversion of the afternoon to cap a fine all-round performance.

lAbergavenny RFC have a weekend off before travelling to Rhymney on December 3.