PRINCIPALITY PREMIERSHIP EAST
CROSS KEYS ............... 20 EBBW VALE ................. 12
CROSS KEYS head coach Greg Woods revealed his side did not panic despite losing their opening Premiership games to Merthyr and Bargoed.
The Pandy Park outfit got back to winning ways after a hard-fought victory over Ebbw Vale.
Woods said: “The boys worked hard over the summer and we were excellent for 70 minutes against Merthyr and 60 minutes against Bargoed.
“We are glad we have finally got over the line – we would have been distraught had we lost this one.”
The game itself was an odd affair. Despite having plenty of possession, Vale only really threatened Keys in the second half.
By the time they woke up, they somehow found themselves 20-0 behind the more clinical home side.
They rallied, but left it too late to seriously threaten the hosts. This was the 2016 league champions’ second straight defeat after losing to Pontypridd at home.
For the Steelmen’s coach Lee Davies, it was an afternoon of frustration.
He said: “It’s back to the drawing board for us after this one, although we can’t beat ourselves up too much about it.
“I thought our game management was poor and we were a little naive at times.
“Our attacking play was limited.
“We’ve got our hands full and plenty to work on ahead of Newport’s visit and they will be full of confidence after beating Pontypridd.”
Keys led 13-0 at the interval after they scored a cracking try through Nathan Trowbridge, created by the excellent James Leadbeater, with some useful help by lock Josh Skinner, and a conversion and two penalties from the boot of No 10 Josh Prosser.
Leadbeater extended the home side’s lead in the second half with a fine individual converted try before Vale got their act together.
Captain and openside Ronny Kynes, yellowcarded for killing the ball in the first half, was driven over by his forwards for an unconverted touchdown before centre Srdan Majkic finished well for a seven-pointer near the end.
The big winger punched a hole through the midfield and found centre Jordan Howells on his shoulder. Howells danced left and right turning three Cardiff defenders inside out and crossed for a superb score. Lewis added the conversion and the home side took a deserved lead into the half-time break at 17-14.
The second half turned out to be a hugely physical contest with Cardiff trying but failing to break a resolute Bargoed defence. The home side had an opportunity to extend their lead but the penalty kick drifted wide, otherwise there were few scoring opportunities for either side and a notable feature was the absence of any kickable penalties for Cardiff which says a great deal for Bargoed’s much improved discipline.
Both sides used the bench but it made little difference to the second half stalemate.
However with just two minutes left, a breakdown in communication in midfield saw a Bargoed wrap around move go awry. Cardiff pounced, worked their way upfield and quick hands put former Leicester Tigers centre Jack Roberts over from short range with replacement Ben Thomas converting.
There was still time for Bargoed to mount an attack but a lack of composure saw the ball hacked upfield from the Cardiff 22 and that was it – another narrow home defeat with the Bulls having to settle for a losing bonus point.