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Aberavon v Cross Keys MatchPack : Report
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Aberavon came from behind on a bitterly cold day to
eclipse a disappointing Cross Keys side, with teenage centre Ashley
Beck again catching the eye as he scored one try and created
another.
For almost the entire first half the standard of play barely raised
above poor as the visitors dominated |
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| territorially but consistently failed to breach the
Aberavon defence, looking remotely like scoring a try just once, only
for the move to be halted by the referee's whistle for an earlier
forward pass. So as the match approached half-time Keys were leading
by just six points to three, with former Cardiff full-back Leon Andrews having succeeded with
two penalty attempts, and home marksman Jamie Davies with one. |
The turning point came in the fortieth minute with the Wizards having
broken out of defence and made a rare visit to visitors' territory. An
under-pressure clearance kick was fielded on the touchline by hooker Chris
Wells, and he set off down the left wing before putting in a short kick
over the defence into space. The big hooker was half-impeded as he
attempted to regather possession, but as the ball bounced up Beck came
racing through from a deep position, gathering the ball without breaking
stride and strolling around behind the posts to present Davies with a
simple conversion. It put the Wizards ahead for the first time in the
match, and with Davies adding a further penalty with the last kick of the
half to make it 13-6, the Wizards had turned the match their way in the
space of a couple of minutes.
It took just a few minutes of the second half for the home side to
increase their lead. With a rather more positive approach than had been in
evidence earlier, the Wizards went on the attack and began to move the
ball with a degree of purpose. Eventually it was Davies who took advantage
of a stretched defence, straightening up and bursting through midfield. He
was eventually closed down five metres from the line, but Richard Carter
had left his right wing to pop up on Davies' shoulder and take the scoring
pass and mark his 100th appearance in an Aberavon jersey with his 57th try
for the club.
Davies again converted, and added his third penalty goal ten minutes
later, but it was not until the eightieth minute that the win was sealed.
Another period of sustained pressure on the Cross Keys line saw the
Wizards go through phase after phase before young Beck made his mark once
again. This time it was the big youngster's turn to take on the visitors'
midfield, and his powerful surge sucked in several defenders before a
brilliant offload in the tackle put replacement full-back James Garland
clear. Davies put over his third successful conversion, by now making
light of the strong, swirling wind.
As the match moved into stoppage time the Wizards mounted another strong
attack in search of a fourth try and bonus point, but they were thwarted
when the referee adjudged them to have knocked the ball forward, despite
Marc Breeze's attempted pass to Richard Carter having clearly been knocked
back by a Cross Keys hand. Carter followed up and sent Paul Bamsey
sprinting clear, but the whistle had gone, and with it the chance of an
extra league point.
Paul Williams
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