The home side were forced to dig deep to come back from 10 points down and were good enough to go on to beat a very strong Merthyr team.
“It was a really tough game, just as we expected. They put a lot of pressure on us in the first half and we had to stay in the fight as long as we could and wait to take our chances,” said Aberavon assistant coach Marc Breeze.
“Everyone has been working so hard and we’ve made some changes in the way we are playing.
“I’d never have predicted six bonus point wins in a row at the start.
“We were 10 points down very quickly and we could have thrown in the towel. The last couple of weeks have given us some massive confidence with wins over Pontypridd and Merthyr.”
Joe Gage got the Wizards off to a good start, his cultured kick over the defence found Bradley Roderick in space, to score the game’s first points.
Merthyr hit straight back, a lovely, delayed pass from Gareth Thompson sent Callum Bradbury racing through. Phil Rees then got over the line for Merthyr, before Rhys Jones struck a mammoth 40 metre drop goal, to leave Aberavon 8-3 up.
Craig Locke, Bradbury and Morgan Sieniawski blasted Merthyr to their try bonus point, stunning the Wizards before the half hour mark. But for all of Merthyr’s dominance, Aberavon hit back with two quick tries from Joe Gage just before half time to keep the home side well and truly in the game at 25-24.
Aberavon returned back to basics after the break, and Luke Davies emerged from a strong driving maul with a try. Merthyr, however, regained the lead courtesy of a stunning try from Dafydd Thomas.
This topsy-turvy game continued to dazzle and former Ospreys, Dragons and Wales No 8 Dan Baker was next to score off the back of a dominant scrum from the Wizards.
The drama continued for a tense final 20 minutes, before Rees scored a heroic try with just seconds on the clock to secure an incredible bonus point victory for the hosts.
“Both teams had good intent. We are trying to rebuild something at Merthyr and this was a chance for us to see where we are,” said Merthyr head coach Rowland Phillips.
“At the end we are very disappointed that we didn’t come away with a win. That means we have to be pleased with where we are, although I believe we should have won the game. We went off the boil in the second half.”
Scorers: Aberavon – Tries: J Gage 2, B Roderick, L Davies, D Baker, A Rees; Cons: R Jones 2, J Gage; DG: R Jones.
Merthyr: Tries: P Rees, C Locke, C Bradbury, M Sieniawski, D Thomas; Cons: G Thompson 2; Pens: G Thompson
