Abergavenny celebrated the unveiling of their new skintight kit by scoring seven tries and cruising to a 45-10 win over Croesyceiliog in this season's competitive curtain-raiser match at Bailey Park.

The backline was unchanged from last week's defeat at Newport HSOB, but there was a forced reshuffle of the pack, as Richard Jones replaced the unavailable Tom Rees at flanker and Frank James coming in at prop for the injured Nick Gethin.

It became immediately obvious that the claret and amber had learned from the mistakes that riddled the loss in Caerleon, and Aber played a high tempo, free-flowing brand of rugby.

Centre and captain Stuart Davies led by example by touching down early on for the hosts' opening score.

With the pack having provided a solid base deep inside Croesy territory, the backs capitalised by creating an overlap, and Davies was on hand to finish the move off by crossing in the corner.

James 'Jivo' Harris added the conversion from out wide, and Aber, who never looked as though they might relinquish their lead, were up by seven points after as many minutes.

Will Williams soon doubled his side's try count with a fine individual effort.

Collecting a loose kick on halfway, the speedster cut straight past Croesyceiliog's approaching fowards, who appeared motionless as Williams scythed through them.

The winger weaved his way around the remnants of the defence before touching down, and Harris again added the extras.

The visitors managed to get themselves on the scoreboard, as Abergavenny appeared to lose concentration briefly. Croesy's centre took advantage, cutting through a dog-legged defence to reduce the arrears by half.

Aber's backs responded by keeping alive their creative spark, though fullback Ryan Williams' scintillating 40-yard break came to nothing as possession was lost.

It was not long, however, before Aber restored their two-try lead. Again, Will Williams was the creator, embarrassing would-be tacklers as he swept past opposition defenders before feeding Kristian Knapp, who in turn offloaded to Stuart Davies, who doubled his personal tally for the match.

James Harris continued his success from the kicking tee, though Aber's lead was reduced slightly to 21-10 at halftime as the visitors added a penalty from just outside Aber's 22.

A dramatic change in the conditions greeted the sides as the second half got under way. The match had started in bright sunshine, but the teams were forced to cope with horizontal rain in the second period.

Aber did well to adjust their game accordingly.

The emphasis on running rugby that was such a feature of the first 40 minutes was shifted to encourage the retention of possession in the forward pack as the hosts demonstrated their superiority in both the creative and physical aspects of the game.

This versatility was evident in Aber's fourth try, scored by scrum-half James Harris but made by the pack.

Asking for a scrum when awarded a penalty five metres out, the decision paid dividends as Aber rumbled towards and over the tryline.

Cheekily, Harris touched down himself - poaching the ball from the feet of a clearly disgruntled number eight Paul Cornock - before converting his own score.

The home team's superiority up front was further underlined by second row Dan Horler, who crashed over for his team's fifth try following Aber's besieging of the Croesyceiliog line.

Leading 33-10 - Harris failed to convert for the first time - Aber began to relax, and displayed the same free-flowing attitude that had marked the first half.

An intelligent chip from outside half Jack Flower was gathered by winger Ian Davies, who was brought down but not held, and managed to wriggle across the whitewash to give the scoreline an even more lopsided appearance.

Even then, though, Aber were not finished.

Stuart Davies was again involved in midfield, breaking through defenders before feeding debutant Caleb Bray, who had come off the bench to replace the injured Will Williams.

New Zealander Bray showed good vision by launching a long pass to Ian Davies, who cut inside after gathering to score his second, and his team's seventh and final try.

Harris again converted, and earned the man of the match award for his near perfect kicking display.

But this was a match in which the whole team impressed. The error count was significantly reduced and Aber can travel to Abertillery Blaenau Gwent this weekend with confidence much restored.

Elsewhere, there were wins for both Abergavenny Quins, who secured a 52-7 away win at Newport HSOB and the youth side, who triumphed at home against Gwernyfed 31-0, allowing for a triple celebration of impressive wins for Aber's teams.