FOR talented Crymych Youth player Guto Edwards the 2017/18 season won’t come quickly enough because he hopes he will be able to return to action after a serious leg injury, ironically sustained in his very final match of last season.

It happened when the Preseli Men were entertaining junior teams from Aberdare and the day ended with a mixture of veterans and young players taking on a ‘Golden Oldies’ team.

“It was a one-off game after a long season and I was pleased when John Davies asked me to play in it at Parc Lloyd Thomas,” Guto told us, “and all was going really well until I came off a lineout and was about to pick up a loose ball when one of the Aberdare props caught me awkwardly.

“I knew something serious had happened because of the pain in my left leg and I had to be carried into an ambulance and taken to Glangwili Hospital - and an X-ray revealed that I had broken my tibia and dislocated my ankle!”

Guto then had his left leg put into a plaster cast and he was in hospital for three days before returning home and getting used to a slower method of movement as he hobbled around on crutches.

He was told that he would need about eight weeks of immobilisation for his leg, followed by lots of physio and then be ready to start work on regaining his match fitness.

“I know it will be hard work,” admitted Guto, “but at least I will still be able to work at building my upper body strength as something to keep me occupied!”

That Guto should play for Crymych should be no surprise because his father Dylan was a centre for the club and is the current chairman of the Preseli Men. Mum Eleri is also a great supporter and terrific taxi driver for her sons, with Guto’s older brother Llyr (20) playing for both the first and second teams during the season.

Both mum and dad were busy helping out at the recent Junior Finals Day at their club, with Guto watching all ten matches but making sure that he stayed fairly close to a chair in the relative warmth and dryness of the changing rooms’ area!

Outside of his rugby, Guto enjoys most sports and plays cricket for Crymych at Glandy Cross as a useful batsman and good fielder, but accepts that there won’t be a great deal played this summer in his present predicament, but he will watch games at Glandy Cross.

He also enjoyed playing football as a hard-tackling right back in his days with Boncath juniors but eventually the fixtures clashed with rugby and there was only going to be one winner!

Back in the oval ball game, Guto enjoyed five wonderful seasons in a school team at Ysgol y Preseli coached by Gethin Vobe and Marc Lloyd which remained undefeated for several seasons.

He started out at Crymych RFC after watching games on television and asking dad if he could start playing - and Guto took to it like a duck to water with Gareth Wilson as his coach there for the next five years.

“I played alongside some very good players like Gethin Davies, John Hill, Llew Bevan and Iwan Toft,” said Guto, “and after two seasons of learning the skills of the game through tag rugby we got into full contact mode and I enjoyed it even more.”

From under 12 to under 16 levels Guto and Co won the Pembrokeshire Junior Final for their age group for the five seasons and as a measure of their strength outside our county the Young Preseli Men also won the district finals at Parc y Scarlets on four of these occasions, as they beat off the challenge of top Carmarthenshire teams every season bar one.

“I played county rugby at under 11s and we had a good team there, too,” said Guto.

Last season saw Guto doing well as part of a very strong team with Crymych Youth and readily admitting that the greatest difference from junior rugby was the physicality of games.

“It was played at a quick pace but we adapted and came close to a Welsh Youth Cup Final at the Principality Stadium, but lost 26-23 to Rhymney in the semi-final at Loughor as they scored a last-minute penalty!”

Guto will also remember the quarter final match at home to Abergavenny because it was only when he turned up at the Parc Lloyd Thomas changing rooms that he realised he had left his boots, plus post-match shirt and club tie, at home.

“I had my leg pulled by the boys but mum was brilliant as a quick phone call saw her act as delivery driver!”

Guto has also appreciated the support provided by the club and says former Welsh international forwards Kevin Phillips and John Davies have been inspirational because they have done so much in their own playing days, and put a lot in off the field for the club.

The appreciation is reciprocated because when asked about Guto’s rugby prospects they both were very positive, with Kevin saying that he could turn out to be an excellent second row once he regains fitness, and John adding that he could also play in the back row if he works hard at his mobility and handling skills – high praise from two former stars who never go over the top when talking about young players at their club!

Ask Guto his rugby ambitions and his initial response is that eventually he would love to stake a claim for a first-team place with Crymych and then see where his play takes him from there on – and once his current recuperation period is over he will soon be back in harness.

And if hard work, dedication and skill are anything to go by then we will hear lots more about Guto – and we wish this eager young feller a speedy recovery!