By Paul Williams

The Wizards made a bright start against one of the most consistent opposing teams in recent seasons but were denied even a share of the spoils as scoring opportunities were missed and the visitors took full advantage to leave with a bonus-point victory.

The opening five minutes saw defences on top as both sides searched for ways to make progress in terms of territory and possession, until at last Llandovery were penalised near the right-hand touchline. The quick thinking of Aberavon scrum-half Scott Whitlock then brought the opening score as he took a quick tap and raced for the corner, with wing Corum Nott up in support to take the pass and touch down for an unconverted try.

The visitors struck back five minutes later as Adam Warren crossed in the left-hand corner to level the scores, but back came the Wizards, with Whitlock again taking a quick tap-penalty before racing through the visitors’ defence, linking up with Ashton Evans who ran hard for the line before Whitlock picked up and dived over. Fly-half Charlie Thomas added the conversion to make the score 12-5 after 17 minutes.

The Wizards extended their lead five minutes later when pressure deep in Llandovery territory yielded a penalty. Thomas kicked for the corner, the Wizards pack secured possession from the lineout, and hooker Luke Davies, making his 200th appearance in an Aberavon jersey, claimed the try at the bottom of a driving maul after 22 minutes, taking the score to 17-5.

Thereafter the vocal Aberavon support had little to cheer as the visitors converted pressure into points. Full-back Tomi Lewis ran in for an unconverted try in the run-up to half time, and the second half belonged to the visitors, with Aaron Warren extending the Llandovery lead with a try that was converted by Sam Potter, to be followed over the line by Gryff Watkins, with Tom Hughes converting before adding a penalty to close the scoring at 17-27.

Aberavon will obviously be reflecting on their performance, and will take heart from having made Llandovery work a lot harder for victory than at any point during recent seasons, but the current Wizards are very much a work in progress and will no doubt be working to ensure that progress continues uninterrupted.