A SPIRITED fight back by the 14-men of Cross Keys saw them snatch victory from Aberavon with the very last move of the game.

A thrilling climax saw the Pandy Park side’s full back James Cordy-Redden cross for a converted try after his teammates had so patiently gone through multiple phases.

A home win had looked almost impossible some 20 minutes earlier after the hosts’ scrum half Rhys Dyer was sent off for a spear tackle on number eight Ben Thomas with the Wizards already in the driving seat, leading 13-3.

Keys had to thank their bench for changing the game in that last quarter.

Replacement No 9 Ryan James was imperious as were the substitute front row forwards of Luke Garrett, Darren Hughes and Anthony ‘Vinny’ Lott.

This remarkable triumph still sees Keys in sixth position in the Principality Premiership table, although they do have one game in hand over Llanelli just above them with a point more.

Keys started brightly enough although they were on the back foot for much of the game.

The hosts took the lead after four minutes when outside half Ethan Davies slotted over a straight forward penalty after the visitors infringed at a ruck in front of their posts.

Aberavon full back Matthew Jarvis drew his side back on equal terms after he nailed a long range penalty soon after.

A real slug fest ensued for the rest of the half, the only real point of interest was when Keys wing Elliott Jones nearly broke the deadlock.

Taking advantage of a dropped ball, he kicked it through from deep only to see it bounce into touch with the Wizards’ defence at panic stations.

A second penalty by Jarvis with the last move of the first half gave the Wizards a 6-3 lead at the interval.

And it was the visitors who started the stronger in the second 40 minutes when they had Keys under pressure at the scrum.

They duly stretched their lead when Thomas powered over from the back of a powerful scrum that pushed the hosts back from five metres.

Jarvis kicked a tricky conversion to give his team a 13-3 lead after 47 minutes.

It looked like curtains for Keys in the 57th minute when Dyer was red carded and the Wizards cruising.

But James and his front row colleagues spurred Keys on to stage their great escape which started when Cordy-Redden went close to scoring before captain and centre Leon Andrews crashed over for a try with just 15 minutes to go.

Davies’ conversion brought them back to within to three points.

Aberavon came close to closing the game out after a neat kick ahead by No 10 Cameron Clement forced his opposite number to carry over his own try-line.

From the ensuing scrum five, the Wizards came within a whisker of a try but they were held out by some heroic defence.

The Gwent side mustered the strength and character to go from their own line into the visitors’ 22 with two minutes to go.

After showing remarkable patience, they went through the phases before a lovely pass by Davies found Cordy-Redden in the last seconds.

His converted try broke Aberavon hearts, the Wizards puzzled at how they had lost a game they had bossed for so long.

For Keys, it keeps their play-off ambitions alive as they secured three wins on the bounce for the first time this season.

Cross Keys: J Cordy-Redden, E Jones (R James 58), L Andrews (captain), P Williams, N Trowbridge, E Davies, R Dyer, R Cornock (L Garrett 48), J Howard (D Hughes 48), C Gould (A Lott 48), D Hodge, S Williams (T Lampard 71), R Tucker (J Skinner 74), S Matthews, J Condy (P Uhi 75).

Cross Keys scorers: Tries – Leon Andrews (65), James Cordy-Redden (80), Conversions – Ethan Davies (65) (80), Penalties – E Davies (4)

Aberavon: M Jarvis, R Carter (M Williams 75), W Price, M Jenkins, D Evans, C Clement, D Pritchard, R Jenkins, I Davies (G Harvey 78), R Harford, I Moore (captain), B Davies (S Williams 67), R Dudley-Jones (J Bija 41), N Brown, B Thomas.

Aberavon scorers: Try – Ben Thomas (47), Conversion – Matthew Jarvis (47), Penalties – M Jarvis (16) (40) Referee: Craig Evans (WRU) Argus star man: Ryan James