Paul Williams (Swansea Programme Notes)
Hopefully a hiccup
It had been at least a couple of years since I’d last suffered from a heavy cold, but one hit me out of the blue a week or so before I picked up the laptop and began to type what you are now, a couple of weeks later, reading. Some may call it good luck, they may tell me that nature did me a favour in forcing me to languish at home in frustration while the Wizards were in action. The match that I was forced to miss, you see, was the visit to Newport on December 13th; a game perhaps too far for the injury-decimated Aberavon squad that had had its collective back to the wall since November’s inconvenient arrival on the calendar.
But I wish I’d been able to go, instead of following events via a WhatsApp commentary from the good lady. Not that witnessing what unfolded that afternoon would have given me much in the way of pleasure, but at least, had I been there, I could have added to those voices who offered only consolation as the final whistle blew. Below-par performances happen to all and sundry from time to time and (I am reliably informed) one had only to look at Ashton Evans’ face as he left the field to realise that the disappointment felt by those who look on is as nothing compared with how those taking part in the match will feel when it all goes terribly wrong. Ashton was given the captaincy that afternoon, and that will only have intensified his disappointment. He has, since his arrival at Aberavon, been an asset to the club through thick and thin, and we would all do well to remember that he and the rest of the squad don’t go out there and put their bodies on the line in a bid to come a distant second.
Many of our older supporters, myself included, will recall the Summer of 1988 when a large proportion of the previous season’s squad left for pastures new, and we started September with a home match against Newbridge with a squad who, I was told, were still being introduced to one another in the changing room before taking the field. Not surprisingly they lost that match, but not by the kind of margin we feared. The versatile Gary Matthews was subsequently appointed captain for the season (it was good to see him back at the Talbot Athletic Ground for a recent ex-players’ reunion) and things very gradually improved, with a first win of the season (albeit by a single point) against Penarth in early October followed by the historic victory over the touring Samoans.
They were tough times for we supporters, as well as for players who were still learning the hard way, but Aberavon soldiered on, steadily improving and working towards an eventual Heineken League Division One trophy in 1994-95. Along the way there were plenty of bitter disappointments… but that’s sport, and whether it’s rugby union, soccer, cricket or any one of a myriad others, there will always be ups and downs.
I, for one, have got too old to be walking away from the Wizards anytime soon. I’ve been writing in these pages for well over 40 years and shall probably continue doing so at least until Ceri and Rob Harwood tell me they’re sick and tired of reading it and so, Aberavon supporters, let’s do what we do best and get our voices firmly behind whoever takes the field in a Wizards shirt.