Garland leads Wizards to top spot at the halfway mark

ABERAVON overturned a 17-14 half-time deficit to beat second-placed Merthyr and ensure they finished top of the Premiership at the end of the first phase of the season.

The away team struck five minutes into a topsyturvy first half, with wing Terri Gee crossing the line in the far corner after collecting an offload from Gavin Dacey.

But the Wizards responded quickly and were soon level.

A box kick from Jacob Flynn looked as if it would be easily scooped up by Gee, only for him to spill the ball over the line to the grateful James Garland, who dived quickly on the ball. Garland’s conversion then levelled the score at 7-7.

The outside-half was again central to the action when Aberavon took the lead after 20 minutes, as he exploited a gap between two Merthyr defenders and offloaded to Joe TomalinReeves who dotted down under the posts.

Despite a Matthew Jarvis penalty, it looked as if Aberavon would go into half-time in front, but a try from Rhys Downes, following a strong break from Phil Rees, gave Merthyr a three-point interval lead.

The table-toppers hit back early in the second half, as Ben Jones bruised his way over four minutes after the break to regain the lead.

The remainder of the half was a tight affair, but a late Cameron Clement penalty secured the win for the Wizards and sealed top spot. Star man James Garland - Aberavon