By Paul Williams
Ebbw Vale did just enough to keep their heads in front in a hard-fought contest that saw a much changed (largely down to an alarming injury list) Aberavon side. The Gwent side, heavily reliant on a powerful pack, did as many would have expected, with hooker Ieuan Morris the main beneficiary of the driving maul that took him over the Aberavon goal-line no fewer than four times.
A quarter of the match had passed, however, before Morris opened the scoring. During that twenty minutes the home side had battered away at an Aberavon defence that battled hard for every inch, and although fly-half Thomas Howard converted Morris’ touchdown and then broke through to score and convert a try of his own, the Wizards struck back via a typical Luke Davies try, converted by Steffan Jac Jones, only for Morris and Howard to once again combine to make the score 21-7 at the interval.
Aberavon skipper Rhys Thomas, leading, as ever, from the front, and on this occasion sharing second-row duties with Lewis Marsh, got the scoreboard moving after the interval. A powerful surge forward from the Aberavon pack paved the way for Jones to dart through almost to the line before linking back up with the forwards, with Thomas crashing through for the try that Jones converted.
Scoring continued in tit-for-tat fashion as the second half went on. A slick passing movement opened a midfield gap that wing Morgan Williams went racing through for a superb try, again converted by Jones to level the scores at 21-21. Normal service, however, was resumed by Morris and Howard, with the former completing his hat-trick of tries, converted by the latter.
28-21, after an hour of play, soon became 28-26 when intense pressure inside home territory led to a 5-metre lineout. The Wizards made no mistake with a driving maul from which emerged replacement back-row man Owen Popple from beneath a pile of bodies, having touched down for an unconverted try way out on the left-hand touchline.
Ultimately, it was Morris who had the last word, claiming his fourth try to make it 33-26 as the final whistle sounded moments later. It was, however, an encouraging performance from the Wizards, whose season thus far had been difficult, to say the least. Two league bonus points were gained, one for scoring four tries and the other for a points deficit of seven or less. But more important was the manner in which the Wizards fronted up against the much-fancied Ebbw Vale team.
Ebbw Vale: Tries – I Morris (4), T Howard.
Cons – T Howard (4).
Aberavon: Tries – L Davies, R Thomas, M Williams, O Popple
Cons – L Jac Jones (3).
