Blaenavon - 27

Llanhilleth - 16

BACKS Alan Scammells and Ieuan Pearce grabbed two tries apiece as Blaenavon kept up the pressure on leaders Abercarn in the Division Five East clash at The Recreation Ground on Saturday.

Blaenavon showed considerable resolve too in defence as Llanhilleth threatened to steal the victory after fighting back from a 15-0 deficit to take the lead at one stage by 16-15.

But the home side - the game was switched from Llanehilleth because of a double-booking with a big football match in the Western Valley - would not lay down.

Scammells scored the first try of the afternoon as the centre cut through the Llanhilleth defence to give scrum-half Lloyd Parker a simple conversion.

The Blaenavon pack were excellent early on as an equally-big Llanehilleth tried to dominate.

And, when they secured good possession midway through the first-half, flying wing Pearce profited from quick ball down the back division to ground in the corner.

Parker missed the conversion but bounced back soon afterwards when he made amends with a penalty that put Blaenavon 15-0 ahead.

It was going well but, for half-an-hour, Blaenavon lost their concentration and gave Llanhilleth the chance to hit back which they took with open arms.

Chris Mapp roared past the Blaenavon defence to secure Llanhilleth's first - and as it turned out only - try of the match which outside-half Ross Mogford converted neatly.

Three further infringements against the Eastern Valley outfit gave Mogford more opportunities to kick which he gratefully received and, suddenly from a position of superiority, Blaenavon were down.

Yet, they managed to get their second breath midway through the second-half and re-discovered the formula which had taken them into the lead at the break.

Again, Pearce was put away on the wing to fly over and put his side back into the lead.

At the opposite end of The Recreation Ground, Llanehilleth pounded Blaenavon's line three times but on all those occasions, the home side resisted brilliantly, turning the ball over and clearing the danger.

They hung on for a while to the four-point lead but, with a four-try bonus point tantalisingly close to their grasp, Scammells sent the home fans roaring as he scampered over the Llanhilleth line to grab his second touchdown of the match, which Parker converted to give Blaenavon the victory.