South Wales Jets eventually eased past Aberavon Fighting Irish on Wednesday evening with a 54-26 win to go top of the JES Group Rugby League Conference.
The Jets didn’t have it their own way all the time, as Aberavon, champions for the last two years in a row, took the lead inside two minutes thanks to a Jack Davies try.
But when a Zak Williams try levelled things six minutes later, with Aaron Harrison kicking the first of his seven goals, there was no turning back for the 2023 champions.
Madoc Lane, Dai Hooper, Iestyn Jones and Ellis Muller all added tries before the break to put the half-time score on 28-4.
Muller’s second try increased the score to 32-4, before Aberavon threatened a come-back. They were next on the board, thanks to a Cody Rees try converted by Iestyn Scott.
A Jack Hodder try, converted by Harrison, addressed the balance, but Aberavon gave Jets a scare after pulling the score back to 38-26 on the hour after consecutive tries were scored by Kian Parlour, Rees and Rhys Evans, with two goals from Scott.
But Jets dominated the last 20 minutes. A second try for Hooper came for Jets as soon as they regained the ball, with Hodder scoring twice more to complete his hat-trick.
