Ian Golden at Aberavon Greenstars, Pic: Riley Sports Photography
Blackbrook fought hard against Aberavon to secure a tough 32-16 win to qualify for the second round of the Challenge Cup.
It was only in the last 15 minutes that Blackbrook secured their win with the final three tries of the game. Before that, it was nip and tuck, but it was the St Helens side who showed their experience to win through in the end.
It took 23 minutes for Blackbrook to break the deadlock. Both teams had their initial attacks with the visitors getting close butsettling for winning a goal-line drop-out.
Aberavon couldn’t get past the Blackbrook 20-metre line as knock-ons were their worst enemy early for a lot of the game. They even had two repeat sets in the first quarter of the game but still nothing to show for it.
Blackbrook took the lead from the final tackle of a set. A high ball was fumbled in the goal area and Luke Ward took full advantage. Keenan Park converted.
From a good set of six, Morgan Hines caught a long kick and grounded in the corner. Ryan Pugh missed the kick.
Morgan Hines was sinbinned for a high tackle and, after an injury break, Blackbrook took advantage, with Cam Tunstall scoring a try in the corner.
Pugh kicked a penalty on the stroke of half-time but Blackbrook went in with a 10-6 lead.
The visitors quickly increased their advantage early in the second half after an error on the Aberavon line from kick-off. Following a goal-line drop-out, Luke Marsh pounced on a grubber.
Aberavon hit back straight away after being awarded a six-again. Keiron John dived over from dummy half. Pugh converted, then kicked a penalty to level the scores.
The Welsh champions should have clinched the game late on. Marsh was yellow carded for a high tackle on the hour, giving Aberavon the advantage. Straight after that, the Welsh were awarded a penalty and Pugh kicked well from 40 metres to give them the lead for the first time in the game.
The home side, looking for another try to seal the game, were out of luck. Following an interception, Blackbrook had a good set of six and Josh Wilson that Keenan improved.
And they sealed the game with 10 minutes to go, just before they were back to a full complement of players. Josh Wilson ran well but was stopped in his tracks. From the next tackle, Paul Nash scored and Park converted.
Park himself completed the scoring, grounding in the corner following a good set of passes. He converted his own try.