Away win, but Strange is still far from a happy man

COACH Jason Strange didn’t hide his disappointment with Ebbw Vale’s performance despite a 3626 win against Llanelli at Parc y Scarlets last Thursday night.

Ebbw Vale maintained their charge for a play-off place in the Indigo Premiership with a bonuspoint win and continued their impressive run of recent results with a second-half comeback to claim a win.

It was Ebbw’s eighth victory of the season.

Strange didn’t hide his frustration at the performance in a scrappy first half, but he was satisfied to come away with all the points from the contest.

“We are pleased with the bonus point but disappointed with the performance,” he said.

“Really disappointed, to be honest, it was nowhere near the levels we expect.

“But some of that was down to Llanelli and I thought they

LLANELLI ........................ 26 EBBW VALE ..................... 36

outmuscled us first half and won the rucks.

“We were better second half but as we spoke after the game in the changing room, if we are going to challenge at the top end of the table, we need to be better than we were here.”

Wing Ryan Davies, No. 8 Ryan Jenkins, centre Ethan Phillips and replacement Harry Drane all crossed for tries for the visitors.

Skipper Iwan Shenton led from the front for Llanelli, while replacement back-rower Ben Williams and centre Eddie James also stood out.

Shenton and James crossed for tries for the hosts, with Josh Phillips kicking both conversions and four penalties for a haul of 16 points.

Llanelli make the trip north to RGC on January 21.