It has been a tough few weeks for the Ravens after such a solid start to the campaign against the Bedford Blues and Moseley where bonus point wins had been secured. The away trip to Llanelli was disappointing with a last minute converted try for the home side securing a draw. Next London Welsh visited Ravenhill at the end of last month for a fixture which was always widely regarded as the toughest in the group. Two excellent tries at the start of each half from Paul Marshall and Timoci Nagusa did just enough to send the exiles home without a victory.
This weeks opposition have had a mixed campaign. Aberavon, also known as the Wizards, opened with an impressive 16-19 win over their Welsh rivals Llanelli at Parc y Scarlets, then the following week slumped to a heavy defeat at home to London Welsh 7-36. A home win against Moseley 10-0 got their campaign back on track but they lost away to Bedford 17-15 in round four.
In their domestic league the Principality Premiership, Aberavon are sitting in mid-table having played 18, winning 9, drawing 2 and losing 7. Their last outing was on the 2nd March when they played struggling Ebbw Vale at Eugene Cross Park. Vale threw all they had into this encounter, as they desperately sought a result that would put some daylight between themselves, and relegation rivals Pontypool, but their only reward came from the boot of replacement fly-half Gareth Bowen, who landed five penalties.
The Wizards stars against Vale were their young teenage wing Chris Lewis, whose alertness and pace helped him run in two excellent tries, and the boot of fly-half Jamie Davies, who opened the scoring with a seventh-minute penalty, and then landed two more shots at goal to complete the visitors tally of 19 points. Vale did manage a fight back with five converted penalties but the Wizards defended extremely well to hold on to win 15-19.
So they have a lot of young talent, dangerous wingers and a fly half with an accurate boot. No doubt Neil Doak and his Ravens side will be ready for Friday night, they know exactly what they have to do, now they need the Ulster support at Ravenhill to get behind the team and make home advantage count.
MATCH TICKETS
Season Ticket Holder Adults £5 / Season Ticket Holder Kids go free
Click Here for tickets online or
Call 90 493222 Option 2 for tickets or visit the ticket office at Ravenhill, open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, 4pm on match day.
Please note, your season ticket discount will run right up until 4pm on Friday 12th March, after which time supporters can purchase tickets on the turnstiles, priced at £10 for adults and £3 for juniors.
