ABERAVON v NEATH TEAM NEWS

28th January 2010

NEATH v ABERAVON (Away)
Saturday, January 30th, 2010 - 2.30pm

It might not be Easter Monday and the weather may be distinctly un-Springlike but Neath resume Principality Premiership action when they travel to near neighbours Aberavon on Saturday (kick off 2.30pm).

The two sides served up a real Christmas cracker at The Gnoll on Boxing Day when Neath edged it 36-33. That game had everything with Aberavon taking the lead through a Matthew Jarvis penalty seven minutes into injury time only for Neath to regain it with a pushover try two minutes later - one heck of a finish to one heck of a game and one heck of an advert for the Premiership !

Since then, Neath's only League game resulted in a 64-6 home success over Pontypool while Aberavon's only action was last Saturday's 40-nil Cup win at Beddau.

On a strong-looking bench for Neath will be young winger Richard Smith who broke the Club's long-standing individual try record when he crossed the line 7 times in last week's 83-17 friendly win at Kidwelly. Kevin Morgan made a brief come back in that game and is named at full back while influential flanker Gareth Gravell has also reported back fit and will lead the team.

Neath v Aberavon (Away) From
K.Morgan; K.James, N.Brew, S.Thomas, A.Jenkins; G.McCarthy, K.Farrell; N.Downs, A.James, M.Jones; E.Evans, N.Edwards; M.Collins, L.Evans, G.Gravell (captain)
Replacements : R.Smith, A.Thomas, T.James, G.Price, J.Reeves, H.Pugh, C.Price
Referee : Mr. Gwyn Morris (Caerdydd)

Quote from Head Coach Patrick Horgan :-
"We are all looking forward to visiting Aberavon for what is traditionally one of the biggest games of the season. They will be all out to avenge the 36-33 defeat they suffered on Boxing Day so we'll really need to be up for the challenge.

"That Boxing Day game was one of the best seen since the Premiership started and I imagine that everyone who witnessed it will want to be there again for this one."

"We have had the luxury of training outdoors uninterrupted this week and we are looking for a big performance from this Neath team after the turmoil of our Cup game against Glamorgan Wanderers."

Forthcoming Fixtures
Sat Feb 6 Glam. Wanderers Home 2.30pm
Sun Feb 14 Heriot's Away 2.00pm
Sat Feb 20 TBC Away 2.30pm
Sat Feb 27 Munster Home 2.00pm