PONTY RAISE GAME TO STUN TITLE HOPEFULS
ABERAVON’S Indigo Premiership title hopes suffered a huge setback as they lost 27-10 at home to Pontypridd.
What made it even more surprising was that it was a first win in seven matches for the visitors.
It has been a strange season to date at the Sardis Road club and this was a notable bonus-point win over the Wizards with late tries by Joel Raikes and skipper Kristian Parker.
“Aberavon battled all the way to the end, but our boys covered every blade of grass and I couldn’t have asked any more of them,” said Parker.
“We knew we had a tough afternoon on our hands because Aberavon have one of the best packs in the league. Sometimes our indiscipline let them into the game with penalties at the breakdown.
“There have been a few question marks over our defence this season, and we have been found wanting at times.
“But today the boys really got off the line and the work we are doing in training is paying off.”
New recruit Jamie Murphy, who has just arrived from Bridgend, scored 12 points on his club debut.
The visitors flew out of the blocks with a break from No. 8 Joe Miles, then Raikes chipped ahead for Murphy to dot down for the opening try.
Aberavon responded with a try through hooker Luke Davies, with fly-half Rhys Jones adding the extras to draw level.
It didn’t stay that way for long as the impressive Miles broke through the home defence once again, finding Sion Parry in support and he wen over for Ponty’s second try.
Jones responded with a penalty to leave Aberavon trailing 14-10 at the break.
Raikes killed off the contest with Ponty’s third try of the afternoon, as he sniped through to score from 15 meters.
There was still enough time to chase the bonus-point try and it was provided by lock Parker, who peeled from a rolling maul to crash over.
BRIDGEND 27-24 NEWPORT
Bridgend made it three league wins in a row with a rousing home victory over Newport.
The game ebbed and flowed throughout to leave home fans biting their fingernails in the final five minutes.
Paul Short kicked an early penalty before Chris Williams scampered away for the opening try.
Short’s conversion made it 10-0 before a frenzied second quarter saw three tries.
Elliot Frewen crossed in the corner for the visitors in the 20th minute, Edd Howley went over five minutes later for the Ravens and then Lloyd Lewis cut the gap with a second Newport try to leave it 17-10 at the break.
Another Short penalty on 50 minutes was followed by a try from wing Mike Powell, which Luke Price crucially converted off the touchline to give the home side a 17-point lead.
Newport needed a reaction and replied through their pack.
A penalty try at a scrum, which led to a yellow card for home prop Aled Evans, got Newport back into it and then Rhys Jenkins added a bonuspoint score which Matt O’Brien converted to allow his side to leave with two points.
LLANELLI 28-38 CARMARTHEN QUINS
Winning is becoming a happy habit for Marc Jones’ Quins side and victory over their arch-rivals moved them off the bottom of the table.
The Quins backed up their excellent 34-33 victory last time out against Swansea with a 10-point triumph at Parc y Scarlets as they inflicted a fifth straight league defeat on Llanelli to leave them bottom of the pile.
The Quins picked up a try bonus point within the first 40 minutes with some devastating attacking rugby.
Torin Myhill won the race to touch down after a well-weighted kick to score the game’s first try.
The Quins were then awarded a penalty try after forcing a string of penalties at scrum time and Sam O’Connor saw yellow for his part in the process.
The visitors finished the half in impressive fashion, scoring two late tries to secure a bonus point. Ryan Davies and Dylan Richards were the grateful recipients of the two wellworked scores.
Llanelli scored the first points of the second half through Joe Hutchings, but the Quins hit straight back with a swift counter-attack which was finished off by Aaron Hemmings.
Late tries from Llew Phillips-Taylor, Rhys Harris and Iestyn Gwilliam secured a try bonus point for the hosts, although any sort of comeback was squashed with a try from Sion Jones.
SWANSEA 6-31 MERTHYR
Mighty Merthyr put Swansea to the sword for the second time this season with a comprehensive bonuspoint victory at St Helen’s.
The visitors got off to a fast start as their pack formed a rolling maul, which Tom Sloane brought down illegally, earning him a yellow card in the process.
Josh Lewis chipped to the corner from the penalty and the visitors got quick ball out from the line-out for Teri Gee to beat two men to score in the corner.
Swansea then gave away a penalty, which Gareth Thompson chipped to the corner, and a routine catch-anddrive from the line-out saw No. 8 Phil Rees crash over for a second score.
The Ironmen looked set for a third try following a charge-down, with Ben Jones stretching his legs from deep, but a superb last-gasp tackle by Kieran Charles saved Swansea.
Merthyr continued to pile on the pressure and wave after wave of forward phases put the Whites defence on the back foot, allowing Morgan Sieniawski to cross for try number three.
The bonus-point try followed two minutes later when Gareth J Rees made a mess of collecting the ball near his own line, and Gee gratefully nipped in to snatch his second.
Ben Jones put a touch of gloss on his side’s victory by backing his speed to score a superb try in the corner that made it 66 points in two outings this season for Rowland Phillips’ side against the All Whites, who managed only two penalties.
LLANDOVERY 20-15 EBBW VALE
Llandovery’s 10th win in 12 matches moved them into second place behind Cardiff with two games in hand.
The home side had the better of the early play, but it wasn’t until the 15th minute that full-back Jack Maynard broke the deadlock with a penalty.
The Steelmen responded in style when centre Ethan Phillips swept over out wide for a try that proved how dangerous they could be with the ball.
The Drovers regained the lead when Maynard cleverly slid through a kick for wing Aaron Warren to beat two defenders to the touchdown. That made it 8-5 at the break, with everything still to play for.
The contest turned at the start of the second half when Llandovery hit Ebbw with two quick tries in two minutes.
Lock Griff Evans charged-down a relieving kick to score for the first, and then a flick pass by Warren allowed Maynard to send skipper Lee Rees haring over for a try that Maynard improved.
That broke some of the heart and spirit displayed by Jason Strange’s visitors, but they refused to go down without a fight and to their credit they scored 10 points late on.
Wing Morgan Richards ran 50 metres for a fine try which he quickly converted, and then replacement flyhalf Keiran Meek salvaged a losing bonus point with a penalty from 30 metres.