RHYS LEAVES IT LATE TO SNATCH WIN
GREG Woods was delighted after a last-gasp drop-goal from fly-half Rhys Jones earned Ebbw Vale a crucial victory over Cardiff at Eugene Cross Park.
A clinical second-half display looked to have given the Blue and Blacks a 10th win in a row, but Jones’s late heroics snatched victory for the Steelmen.
“Unbelievable,” said Ebbw head coach Woods. “To come back the way we did was tremendous. They are a good team and that is a great win for us.
“The last 15 minutes there was a lot of character, a lot of energy. I thought our bench was good, they gave some impetus and we just put the balls in the right area.
“This is a massive win.”
Ebbw Vale dominated the opening exchanges and their pressure told on 16 minutes when Rhys Clarke forced his way through a gap before offloading to No. 8 Lewis Young to score. Jones added the conversion.
Cardiff were struggling to deal with the hosts’ pace and power and Paul King went close to adding a quickfire second as he bulldozed his way through but was denied a free run to the line by a desperate late tackle.
Despite their slow start, Cardiff hauled themselves back into the game thanks to a penalty from flyhalf Gareth Thompson.
The Blue and Blacks then grew in confidence and went close to claiming their first try but a combination of poor handling and dogged defending kept them out, although Ebbw flanker Lloyd Evans was sent to the sinbin.
The Steelmen slowed the tempo down in his absence and almost extended their lead with a Jones penalty from the halfway line, but his effort fell narrowly short.
Cardiff failed to make the extra man count and went in at the break trailing by four points.
The rain started to pour down at the start of the second half to give the sides even more of a challenge.
The visitors seemed to adapt to the conditions better as prop Thomas Davies crashed over within minutes of the restart to give Cardiff the lead. Thompson added the extras from the tee.
The game was halted due to an injury to Will Rees-Hole and problems with the officials’ communication equipment. Once the action resumed Cardiff went straight on the attack and bagged their second try when Ed Howley went over.
Thompson kicked the conversion and added a penalty minutes later to increase Cardiff’s advantage.
But Evans hit back for the Steelmen with a try 15 minutes from time. Jones was accurate with the conversion to set up a frantic finale.
The hosts huffed and puffed as they looked to turn the game around, and with seven minutes left Evans went over again but Jones’s conversion missed the target.
However, he made up for that with a match-winning kick that sent the home crowd wild.