ABERAVON 33 LLANDOVERY 40
By Huw S Thomas, With the kind permission of the Brecon & Radnor Express
Llandovery reached the final of the SRC Cup by dint of beating Aberavon at a dimly lit Talbot Athletic Ground and finishing top of Pool A.
The Drovers shrugged off the disappointment of a heavy league defeat at the hands of Cardiff by outscoring their combative opponents six tries to five with some outstanding counter attacking tries.
They will now face Ebbw Vale – winners of Pool B – at Church Bank this Thursday in an effort to retain the Cup which they won last year when beating Merthyr 20-18 at the Principality Stadium.
The Drovers will enjoy home advantage over the Steelmen after finishing their pool games on 22 points, one ahead of the Gwent men,
It is bizarre to think that whilst the lower level Premiership Cup final between Pontypridd and Cross Keys is to be played on a Saturday at the neutral Principality Stadium, the SRC final is at an arbitrary home ground, on a Thursday night.
After taking the Cup in 2007, 2016 and 2024, the Drovers will be going for their fourth title but will have a big task in front of them, against a side that has already beaten them twice in the league this year.
Ebbw Vale ore one of three SRC clubs yet to win the WRU Cup in 53 years of competition – the others Aberavon and Carmarthen Quins – and will travel with a 33-19 Pool B win at Swansea in the bag.
In their league meeting at Aberavon back in October, the Drovers had edged the game 33-26 – one of the try scorers a young Ellis Mee – and Friday night’s game was another close affair with the Wizards again exactly seven points short of their visitors.
The game had a dramatic start inside a minute with a yellow card for Llandovery wing Llien Morgan after a mistimed aerial challenge on Aberavon skipper and full back Joe Gage.
Centre Brad Roderick gave the home side the lead with a try, converted by fly half Charlie Thomas and the Wizards dominated possession and territory for most of the first half.
But in a powerful combination of great defence and brilliant counter-attacking, Llandovery had the bonus point in the bag by half time,
Key to it all was the influence of centre Adam Warren who made a break before eventually supporting the attack for a try, converted by full back Jack Maynard.
The former Wales centre then slipped tackles to send the extra quick Morgan sprinting home from 50 metres before wing Harri Doel squeezed in after a loose ball had been hacked on from half way.
A penalty try which cost home lock Ross Fox a yellow card for collapsing a driving maul gave the Drovers an improbable 26-7 interval lead.
When in-form No 8 Osian Davies crossed for a converted try four minutes later, all seemed lost for the Wizards.
But they threw caution to the wind and with Llandovery missing tackles, they staged a fine come back.
Wing Cori Lewis-Jenkins showed fine pace to make it 33-12 and when Warren was yellow carded for a technical infringement, the home side upped a gear.
Tries from hooker Ellis Major and wing Frankie Jones, both converted by replacement Ed Dunford, brought Aberavon to 33 -26, only for Warren to steady Llandovery nerves by popping up wide out for a late try.
Replacement Stuart Worrall chalked up his 200th appearance for Llandovery in helping to weather the storm but with the last move of the match, Aberavon replacement scrum half Elis Horgan got the score that closed the gap to seven after yet another high scoring match between the two sides.
*** The SRC Cup final – Llandovery -Ebbw Vale – will be played at Church Bank on Thursday (KO 7 30 pm)
Aberavon
Tries:B Roderick, C Lewis-Jenkins, E Major, F Jones, E Horgan
Cons: E Dunford (3), C Thomas
Llandovery
Tries: A Warren (2), L Morgan, H Doel, pen try, O Davies
Cons: J Maynard (4)
Aberavon: J Gage (capt); C Lewis-Jenkins, B Roderick, S Jardine, F Jones; C Thomas, S Whitlock; L Fletcher, E Major, M James, R Fox, S Smallman, J Clegg, , B Gregory, G Evans,
Replacements: L Marsh, J Beazer, J Walters, C Thomas, C Herdman, S Delveno, E Horgan, E Dunford
Llandovery: J Maynard; H Doel, Kian Abraham, Adam Warren, L Morgan; I Hughes, L Rees (capt);J Hughes, F Thomas, B Watkins, L Ellis-Jones, J Powell, E Sheldon, O Davies, J Evans
Replacements: T Phillips, G Williams, G Jones, N Hart, S Worrall, G MacDonald, G Watkins, I Phillips,