ABERAVON 26 LLANDOVERY 33
Llandovery’s revival continued with this thrilling five tries to four tries victory at the Talbot Athletic Ground writes Huw S Thomas
After losing three times in a row, they recorded their third win in as many matches at a ground where they have never had things easy.
“We had just enough left in the tank to get those vital late tries “ said skipper and scrum half Lee Rees “but we still need to work harder on our discipline, given the amount of penalties we are giving away.”
“We are not yet up to speed and need to cut out a lot of mistakes in our play but three wins on the trot before the autumn break leaves us in a nice position with five consecutive home games to come.”
The match was an intriguing battle between the excellence of the Aberavon pack and the fleet-footed adventure of the exciting Llandovery back division.
The front row Rowan Jenkins, Luke Davies and Geraint James dominated the scrums whilst line-out possession was considerably cleaner than Llandovery’s.
Two of the home tries came directly from the set piece – a driving scrum earning a penalty try and a line out catch and a rolling maul ending with hooker Luke Davies crashing through.
It brought them a 26-19 lead in the second half before the brilliant running and passing of the Llandovery backs clinched victory in the last ten exciting minutes.
With the Aberavon defence stretched right and left, slick passing, grand support and tricky footwork saw fly-half Ioan Hughes and wing Jac Davies breach the home defence.
Davies, now fully recovered from the broken leg he suffered at Newport last April, was in scintillating form, sounding alarm bells whenever he touched the ball.
Snappy footwork, acceleration from a standing start and an ability to change gear at speed mark him out as someone more ready for Parc Y Scarlets than Church Bank.
The watching, former Wales prop Anthony Buchanan will go back to Llanelli with a glowing scout’s report of the young man’s impact on proceedings.
The game had its clear phases.
The Drovers were dominant for the first quarter with an opportunistic snatch and run try from centre Rhodri Jones and an explosive effort from full back Ellis Mee after a lightning counter attack led by Davies.
Then, the second quarter belonged to the Wizards whose powerful scrum made the room for full-back Scott Delnevo to slice through.
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With Llandovery lock Morgan Jones sin binned for repeated team offences, referee Connor not only awarded a penalty try at the scrum but yellow carded prop Jamie Hughes for collapsing the retreating set piece.
The Drovers, down to 13 men, looked in real trouble but, out of the blue, skipper Lee Rees picked up a loose ball near half way and sped clear on the blind side for a stunning score.
A 19-14 interval lead was more than their ill discipline deserved and with more and more penalties against them in ruck and maul, they soon trailed 26-19 to tries from outstanding hooker Davies and centre Joe Gage.
Front row replacements weakened a key part of Aberavon‘s strength and in the last quarter Llandovery showed the home crowd their ability to strike from anywhere.
Fly-half Hughes got a converted try to tie the scores and although he missed a none too difficult penalty, the Drovers would not be denied.
Davies swept through at the end of great passing and running from his fellow backs for the converted try and a seven point lead.
The Wizards responded furiously in the dying minutes, forcing a series of close range scrums and line outs but could not find a way through a defence in which flanker Osian Davies was a real star.
*** The SRC now takes a four week break to coincide with the autumn internationals before it resumes on November 23 when league leaders Cardiff are the visitors to Church Bank.
Aberavon
Tries: S Delveno, pen try, L Davies, J Gage
Cons: E Dunford (2)
Llandovery
Tries: R Jones, E Mee, L Rees, I Hughes, J Davies
Cons: I Hughes (4)
Aberavon : S Delnevo; C Lewis-Jenkins, C Moyes, J Gage (capt), C Woolerton, E Dunford, E Horgan; R Jenkins, L Davies, G James, S Smallman, L Marsh, J Clegg, RThomas, T Morgan
Replacements: S Whitlock, S Jardine, H Doe, S Hurley, C Loveys, L Fletcher, J Walters, A Waite
Llandovery: E Mee; J Davies; Adam Warren, R Jones, Aaron Warren; I Hughes, L Rees (capt); J Hughes, F Thomas, G Hawley, C Long, M Jones, O Davies, , E Sheldon, S Worrall
Replacements: D Dallavalle, G Williams L Green, L Ellis-Jones, N Hart, I Phillips, J Maynard, G MacDonald