EVANS TRY REAL BLOW TO LLANELLI
FLANKER Lloyd Evans pounced for a crucial 70th-minute try to earn Ebbw Vale victory over a stubborn Llanelli outfit in the wind and rain at Eugene Cross Park.
The win keeps the Steelmen in touch with the Principality Premiership leading group of Merthyr, Pontypridd and Cardiff.
Evans’s crucial score came as Vale pressed inside the visitors’ 22 and the ball was driven through to the line for him to win the race for the touchdown.
But the real star of the match was outstanding Ebbw Vale left wing Toby Fricker, who snapped up a brace of unconverted tries in the first half.
Home outside-half Rhys Jones kicked a penalty and also converted the try by Evans.
Llanelli’s points came from a try by strong centre Jonny Lewis, which was converted by outside-half Ioan Hughes.
Llanelli were hoping to make it three wins in a row on their visit to Eugene Cross Park and move further away from the Principality Premiership table relegation zone, having beaten Bridgend 35-3 at home and then thrashed crisis-hit Neath 69-12 at The Gnoll on December 7.
Rain swept across the field as Ebbw Vale kicked off with the gusting wind at their backs.
They soon got the scoreboard ticking when a fluent passing movement down the left ended in dangerous wing Fricker crossing in the corner for a third-minute unconverted try.
Back came Llanelli with some sustained forward drives to the home line after gaining a good field position inside the 22-metre area.
But they then lost momentum when they conceded a penalty themselves.
There were plenty of errors in the difficult conditions, but Fricker was celebrating a second unconverted try in the 17th minute after polished centre Carl Meyer speared a fine pass for him to cross in the corner.
Outside-half Jones put Vale 13-0 ahead by kicking a 28-metre penalty goal, but they were reduced to 14 men on the half-hour when skipper Ashley Sweet was sent to the sin-bin after incurring the wrath of the referee at a maul near his own line.
Llanelli took advantage and centre Lewis, who had threatened the home line with a good solo break which should have produced a touchdown a few minutes earlier, charged over for a 33rd-minute try which Hughes converted. The score stayed at 13-7 at the interval.
Passes invariably went astray as the monsoon-like conditions continued early in the second half, but Llanelli enjoyed most of the territorial advantage as Vale battled against dogged opponents and the wind and rain in their faces.
Their big breakthrough came with that crucial Evans try 10 minutes from the end and when Jones slotted the conversion the joy of home supporters was obvious.
Next up for Ebbw is a trip to Aberavon next weekend, while Llanelli host Pontypridd in a pre-Christmas clash at Parc y Scarlets.