Blackwood RFC -10

Abergavenny travelled to Blackwood the weekend before last and returned home with a hard won scalp.

The coaches made very few changes from the previous week with only Jacob Butler and Rob Morgan coming into the back three and Dan Beavan and Robert Sevenoaks joining the pack.

Aber started the game well, keeping the ball and playing controlled rugby. The forwards did not have it all their way with the big abrasive Blackwood pack making the away side work extremely hard for any possession.

The backs repaid their forwards’ efforts by making good inroads into the home team’s half with centre Dan smith looking dangerous every time he had the ball.

Following a sustained period of pressure, centre Gareth Beavan managed to break the defence and evade the full back to score under the posts, converted by Rhodri Webster.

From the restart the clarets seem to switch off and some poor kicking out of defence and lacklustre tackling allowed the home side to draw level with a well taken try and conversion.

Abergavenny bounced back on the attack and soon had the home side under continuous pressure, forcing them to give away numerous penalties. Two were kicked by Webster to give Aber a 7-13 lead. Before half time Blackwood kicked a penalty to leave the score 10 -13.

The second half was a case of not if, but when Aber would increase their score as they pressurised the home side’s line for long periods. Although they came close on several occasions, they were just not quite able to finish.

The game ended with no further score and Abergavenny were delighted with an away win.

The victory however was tinged with sadness, due to the loss of Eunice Aylett, wife of former Abergavenny club chairman Mike.

A club spokesperson said, “Eunice had been a stalwart supporter of Abergavenny RFC for many years and will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and condolences are with Mike and all the family.