South Wales Jets scored a record points haul in a Welsh Final on Saturday, beating Aberavon Fighting Irish 62-26, to lift the first WRL Conference Cup.
The winning margin was just four points short of that particular record, achieved by Bridgend Blue Bulls in 2005, making this the biggest win in a final for 21 years.
Jets had already clinched the league title, which has earned us a spot in next year’s RFL Challenge Cup, but this outstanding win kept our unbeaten record for the season.
We didn’t have it all our own way in the first half, with Aberavon making sure that we knew we were in a match, but after half-time, our superior fitness kicked in, and this, coupled with some injuries to Fighting Irish players, helped us to victory.
Darrel Moyle gave Jets the lead in under three minutes with a try under the sticks. Kavan Phillips converted.
The Jets also defended well at the start. Despite giving away three penalties in as many minutes, their defence stayed firm.
They scored their second on 17 minutes, when player of the match Zak Williams showed a glimpse of his recent semi-professional game past by zooming through the Aberavon line and scoring under the sticks. Phillips converted.
Aberavon got into the game on 23 minutes when Owen Thomas used his strength to power over the line. The kick was missed.
And when Shane Lee saw yellow for a high tackle, Aberavon struck back again, with Sean Waldeck finding a gap to score and converting his own try.
However, despite still being down to 12, Jets were next on the board. George Groves dived over from dummy half, with the conversion attempt hitting the post.
Then from kick-off, whilst still a player down, Dai Hooper jigged through the Aberavon players to ground. Phillips converted to put the score on to 22-10 at half-time.
With Lee back on the pitch, Jets continued to shine. Jamie Marsh made it look easy as he glided his way through to score. Phillips added the goal to give Jets a three-try cushion.
From kick-off, Ben Pinnock slipped through a gap for the next try, with Marsh adding the extras this time.
But after an error gave them the ball back, Aberavon scored their third, Conor O’Callaghan went in under the sticks, and Waldeck converted.
Owen Thomas followed that up with an unconverted try, and Aberavon were back to being 14 points behind.
But we were never going to lose this. Pinnock scored in the corner, but Marsh missed the kick.
Captain Dean Higgs increased the lead by scoring under the sticks. Marsh converted.
Aberavon hit back again through Cody Rees, with Waldeck converting to bring the score back to 44-26.
But that was just a slip. Higgs then went through for his second of the match, with Jamie Marsh’s goal not only bringing up the half-century but giving him the award for the league’s top points scorer this season.
Craig Lewis scored Jets’ tenth try, then Groves rubbed it in with the 11th, with Marsh extending his points record with two further goals.
Club chairman Liam Price said: “This one means more because we know exactly what it took to get here. Every training session, every tough loss, every player, coach and person who backed the Jets has been part of this journey.
