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Bedwas v Aberavon MatchPack : Report
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The last 20 minutes of this game was more like the
Aberavon that their supporters had seen at home games and thre five
tries represented the first time they had scored over three all
season in an away fixture.
With Mike Harris on thirsting for work; the admirable Christian
'Ripper' Richards back in the division he |
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| belongs; Chris Gittins calling the lineout
shots and new boy Rory Gallagher pulling his weight, the
pack started to move. |
Ian Moore and his men were 31-19 down, but Buddah and his boys
had not surrendered and first Ricky Thomas raced through tackle
after tackle to score and convert and then the Wizards went for
the seven-point winner.
Bedwas, with replacements on both wings, gallantly tackled and
tackled, and when Moore's Men realised they could not get near
the posts they took Route Two and several of them followed
lionheart Richard Morris over at the corner flag.
Level at 31-31 with 30 seconds left, the admirable Thomas kicked
high from the conversion, but struck a post high up and the ball
came out.
Nevertheless, both coaches shook hands and called it quits.
Bedwas coach Steve Law was full of praise for Porthcal lad
Thomas. "He looked a splendid young player," he said.
Aberavon head coach Simon King was far from downhearted, saying:
"It was about running the rule over several young players for
next season. I am sending three of them off to New Zealand for
the summer and I wanted to see how some players would perform
today."
Bedwas is not an easy place to play at and thanks to some
strange decisions, the home side led 26-19 at the interval,
despite a hard-worked try by Chris Morgans and a good effort by
Liam Gadd that saw home skipper John Welch binned for an
uncharacteristic head shot.
Ricky Thomas scored a try that the touchjudge gave, but the
referee did not. Yet, seconds later the same touchjudge gave
Morgans his score despite the referee saying "No" again. This
time, sense prevailed.
Right on the interval, good handling saw Liam Gadd send Richard
Carter over for his tenth league try of an outstanding season
from the most underrated wing in the division.
Then came a good try by Under-18 cap Adam Hughes and it was
31-19 and if Stuart Thomas had not missed two straightforward
penalties, the door would have been shut.
Suddenly, the sleeping giant awoke. The Aberavon pack started
up. Howell, Harris and Richards were on the roll. Moore, a
skipper who leads by example, was at the head of charge after
charge.
Bedwas tried an Horatius at the Bridge, holding magnificently,
until the breach was broke as young Thomas darted his way over
and goaled.
Could the Wizards wave a wand that seemed out of the question
for long periods? A good sign was that coach King was beginning
to growl above the playing field.
Bedwas just could not hold the tide and Morris was in at the
corner for the 131st of his wonderful Aberavon career in his
testimonial season. "I think it is 139," said the big man with a
twinkle in his eye. "And what about my penalty tries?"
Justice was probably done at the draw with Aberavon taking 3-2
on points. Morris, as ever, was the only forward scorer in all
the 62 points.
"I thought young Chris Lewis came through well in his second
league match," said King, who is now thinking of next season.
Aberavon, whose backs was Ray Giles, as Nicky Lloyd was having
knee operations, will finish their season on Wednesday at Llynfi
Road against relegated Maesteg, coached by King's great friend
Gareth Brown.
BEDWAS.........31
Tries - J. Pizey, D. Atkins, A. Hughes. Cons - S. Thomas (2).
Pens - S. Thomas (4).
Team - S. Thomas; S. Horner (repl G. Crothers 28), A. Hughes, D.
Atkins (repl B. Lampitt 60), J. Norris (repl A. James 10); J.
Welch (capt), J. Pizey; G. Leonard (repl D. Lewis 66), B.
Edwards (repl K. Crawford 51), K. Jenkins (repl J. Salter 51),
C. Powell, R. Edwards (repl S. Dafydd 66), A. Tibbatts, N.
Lewis, R. Downes.
Yellow Card - J. Welch (18-28).
ABERAVON......31
Tries - C. Morgans, L. Gadd, R. Carter, R. Thomas, R. Morris.
Cons - R. Thomas 3.
Team - C. Lewis; R. Carter, L. Gadd, J. Garland, S. Davies; R.
Thomas, C. Morgans; L. Howell, C. Wells (repl C. Richards 68),
A. Edwards (repl P. Breeze 28, repl M. Harris 58), I. Moore (capt),
A. Fisher (repl C. Gittins 68), J. Tipuric, R. Morris, C. Davies
(repl R. Gallagher 50).
REFEREE - Wayne Davies (Llanelli).
STAR CHOICE - Richard Morris.
Howard Evans
| Report from the |
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