Llanelli came away with a hard fought victory over the unbeaten Wizards at the Talbot Athletic ground. On a fine crisp Autumn afternoon conditions were set fare for a fast flowing game. But, on the day it was defences that dominated proceedings with line speed and strong tackling from both sides very much at the fore. It wasn’t until the 30minute mark that the game’s first try came. Prior to that it was one penalty apiece from both no.10’s, James Garland for the home side & Angus O’Brien for the visitors. Indeed O’Brien, who was making his Llanelli debut had a fine game and in the end, had he had his kicking boots on the scoreline would have been more convincing. From a set piece just after the half hour in mid field, Llanelli attacked and a fine break by wing Aaron Grabbam saw the ball moved out wide to wing Liam Hutchins who finished well to touchdown in the corner. From the restart Aberavon won a penalty, Garland once again successful to reduce the arrears. Just before half time O’Brien slotted a long range goal to make it Aberavon 6 – 11 Llanelli.
The second half was like the first, defences on top. Only the two scores in the half, again a nice move in mid field saw O’Brien ghosting through on 50 mins to extend the visitors lead with their second try of the game. Aberavon brought on most of their bench early on and pressed hard to get back into the game. They dominated Lineouts and gained good field position from that element of the game. On 60 mins, they secured good lineout ball 5 metres out and mauled their way over the try line. At 11-16 going into the final quarter it was anyone’s game. In the end though, this period was punctuated with many stoppages and no real flow ensued. Had O’Brien slotted a couple of penalty shots during the final quarter the game would have been over. In the end though, Llanelli fully deserved their second win of the season.
Finally, it was a day of celebration for long time favourites Simon Gardiner & Chris Long who were both making their 100th club appearance – a great achievement.
Final Score Aberavon 11-16 Llanelli