Aberavon

Whether you're looking forward to kick-off or the final whistle has blown, this is the place for supporters of EVRFC

Moderators: admin, The ref, Henry Crun

Post Reply
marshomano
Posts: 125
Joined: 10 Mar 2016 15:48

Aberavon

Post by marshomano »

Strong looking side for an evening under the watchful eyes of the bbc. Looking forward to our first home game, and hoping for a good result against a team who failed to get a bonus point at Swansea last week. However, im certainly not taking 'avon for granted. A very accomplished side the last couple of seasons, but im hoping we continue our form from last week and translate it into a decent performance today.

Here is the Ebbw Vale 23 for Friday’s home match against Aberavon:

15) Dan Haymond 14) Steffan Thomas 13) Carl Meyer 12) Dom Franchi 11) Toby Fricker 10) Rhys Jones 9) Matthew Flanagan 8) Lewis Young 7) Owen Young 6) Ronny Kynes (c) 5) Ashley Sweet 4) Lance Randall 3) Rob Sevenoaks 2) Rhys Francis 1) Joel Harries

16) Joe Franchi 17) Ross Jones 18) Curtis Hicks 19) Garin Price 20) Cameron Regan 21) Dai Jones 22) James Lewis 23) Paul King

It’s a big night for Rob Sevenoaks who makes his 200th appearance as a Steelman:
String
Posts: 1289
Joined: 26 Feb 2005 02:36
Location: Cayman Islands
Contact:

Re: Aberavon

Post by String »

Game of 2 halves cliche comes to mind here.

Thought we were dead and buried by half time. Very poor defending, very predictable in attack.

A Huge amount of character was needed to turn that around in the way they did.
Main complaint i guess is very often we tried to go phase after phase in tight and down the middle when we had personnel in tons of space out wide desperate for the ball.

It takes a lot of resolve and confidence to be deservedly way behind at half time and playing poorly to stick at it, keep playing and get a result out of that. That's exactly the attitude we want in the team - not giving up even when up against it.

The second half we looked comfortable. Our tackling improved, our scrum got the upper hand and Aberavon never really threatened.

I was less impressed by some of the "fans" on the terrace in most of the second half just launching into expletive ridden personal abuse at the officials. It wasn't banter - it was soccer style shouty swearing. A very small group of them admittedly but still not great.
html junkie
Posts: 610
Joined: 31 Mar 2005 17:29
Location: Ebbw

Re: Aberavon

Post by html junkie »

Well done on a great comeback in the second half.I feared we were dead and buried at half time, then remembered all those games last season when we gave our opponents a head start before hunting them down.

It's great to see wingers playing with confidence and looking for work. Stef Thomas's finish was top drawer and got the second half off to the perfect start.

There's plenty for Greg Woods and his coaches to work on, but it's looking promising so far.
Martyn Madden: That's show business
Me: **** off!
DaiLew
Posts: 37
Joined: 16 Jul 2010 22:58

Re: Aberavon

Post by DaiLew »

Seems very quiet regarding the game.
Is everybody watching their recordings!!
Excellent second half performance highlighted perfectly that our team spirit is obviously rekindled after the pre Christmas hiccup last season.
Pity the game couldn’t have lasted another 10 minutes as our fitness levels seemed to be part of the different second half and I’m sure we would have gone on to win comfortably.
Not sure if my nerves or heart would have lasted any longer though.
Thanks again boys for another enjoyable start to the weekend.
jadegoodiesfridge
Posts: 488
Joined: 02 Apr 2009 16:43

Re: Aberavon

Post by jadegoodiesfridge »

Have to admit.I've seen the game three times now ?! Still can't believe how predictable we looked in the first half.Staggeringly so compared to the performance at Llanelli.Straight from the kickoff we dropped the ball whereas at Llanelli we caught everything,well,Lewis Young did anyhow.
The second half performance was a mirror image of the first half .Poor in the first 40.fantastic in the second 40.Bizarrely it was the same in the last game we played Aberavon,suggesting Ravon seem to blow up at the 40 to 50 minute mark .
Bringing Cameron on seemed to lift us as Aberavon's back row were having a field day ,certainly so Andrew Waite who I thought was awesome has to be said.Then came Ross who naturally added that bit of bite in the scrum the last 30 and bobs your uncle.Job done.Well done Greg and theboys for not pressing the panic button when all it appeared was lost.TV coverage was good ,especially Steelie racing on to the pitch to interview Dan after Ronnie' try !!! Priceless ! Bit alarming that Marc Jones was one of the pundits seeing we play his RGC next week.He probably got a good insight of our strengths and weaknesses now.( saying that mind it was on TV and for all to see anyway. I'm getting a bit paranoid in my old age perhaps).Also enjoyed GarethCharles commentary(who was his co commentator, didn't catch his name,very insightful guy)Ah Well.Great game ,on to RGC.
marshomano
Posts: 125
Joined: 10 Mar 2016 15:48

Re: Aberavon

Post by marshomano »

jadegoodiesfridge wrote: 09 Sep 2018 13:10 Also enjoyed GarethCharles commentary(who was his co commentator, didn't catch his name,very insightful guy)
I believe it was Andrew Coombs. He's appearing more and more frequently and I have to agree, he was a great addition to the commentary team
viewfromthestand
Posts: 404
Joined: 31 Dec 2013 16:08

Re: Aberavon

Post by viewfromthestand »

Took a few days to stop my nerves jangling. Watched the game over a couple of times now. We looked like two teams . The first half team and the second half team . I am so proud of the lads for their fight back and coming away with the much needed win. This will send a message right throughout the premiership don t right off EVRFC until the final whistle blows . Our second half performance reminded me of a pack of wolves hunting their prey. The boys were relentless. I bet Aberavon were afraid to look up as they would see another wolf ready and willing to take them down.
I have one isssue with TV coverage. TMO . and within that one issue several sub issues. 1. too long making decisions re tries etc. 2 It s totally unfair to use a TMO in our games when crucial tries can be disallowed by the intervention of the TMO . With this in mind the other Premiership games have no TMO so if the ref says try it s a try with no dilly dallying and checking from obscure angles. Therefore, we are in an unfair position .We have 5 more TV games live. Bargoed will have no TMO s as they have no live games , Cross Keys will only have 1 and so on etc. This is not a level playing field as far as i am concerned. Great to have the game on TV and don t get me wrong I am all for this and find the promotion of the league by Andrew Coombes was 1st class. I have spoken to quite a few neutral rugby fans and they have all said what an advert the game was. So , a positive. Roll on RGC ,
String
Posts: 1289
Joined: 26 Feb 2005 02:36
Location: Cayman Islands
Contact:

Re: Aberavon

Post by String »

Im not really against the TMO. It balances out in a game as the decisions are fairer and usually more accurate (gives fans of both sides less scope to whinge about a bent official etc etc).

What i dont like those is consistency of when its used or not. One of their tries was extremely suspect with no clear vision at all for him and was just given with no thought to the video which is a shame. Ours (with no clear vision) were rightly referred to TMO.

Would also have like to have seen him go to the video after our 2nd try where a avon player went in with a knee onto an ebbw player after scoring (thats what kicked off the fighting).

Possibly he forgot he could if he's not used to having one but i dont seen an issue having access to it for certain games - it affects both sides equally (if used properly) and removes some wriggle room for complains and excuses.
Post Reply