The match on Thursday night was the only one of the latest round of Indigo Premiership fixtures to go ahead, with four others scheduled on Saturday called off due to the freezing conditions which made pitches unplayable.
Hyatt was a proud man after watching his side end a four-game losing streak with a 24-13 home defeat of second placed Ebbw. It was also their first victory at home in the league since the opening day of the season and came five days after they were beaten 64-26 by Cardiff at the Arms Park.
And with most other Premiership sides getting an enforced break, Hyatt was glad to have played.
“I can’t speak for other teams, but I know it doesn’t suit us when we don’t play. We always find it hard to get back into the rhythm, said Hyatt.
“From a personal point of view, I like playing every week. Once you’re in that rhythm, rugby players are creatures of habit and we want to play every game every week, so when we do have a bit of downtime it does tend to put a spanner in the works; you lose that rhythm and you’ve got to almost start again.”
Trailing 7-5 at the turnaround against Ebbw, the second half belonged to Aberavon. Tries from Jay Baker, Aron Hemmings and Frankie Jones, two of which were converted by James Davies, added to Cameron Lewis’ unconverted score in the first half.
Everything started well enough for the Steelmen, who dominated the opening quarter and were first to score with a try from Owen Conquer, converted by Evan Lloyd, who kicked two penalty goals in the second half, but they would leave with nothing.
The match also marked a 100th Aberavon appearance for second row Rhodri Hughes, and Hyatt was quick to praise the stalwart.
“He probably had his best game for a long time. It was over and above what people expect; I think he had five steals at the lineout,” sad Hyatt.
“I thought we were physical in defence and outstanding at the set piece. It was just a good all-round performance and I was just really proud coming away from there knowing the players had really worked hard.”
Next up for Aberavon is a trip to reigning Premiership champions and league leaders Llandovery in the quarter-finals of the WRU Premiership Cup. Hyatt wants his side to take the heart and desire shown during their win over Ebbw into the tie.
“They are always good games between ourselves and Llandovery. They like to play an open style of rugby and obviously they are flying high on top of the Premiership and have only lost one game all year so they will be huge favourites,” he added.
“But we’ll take a lot of heart from our performance on Thursday night and if we can go there with that same attitude and that same desire, I’m sure we’ll be in the mix and it’ll be a good game of rugby.”
