Rees leads way for Merthyr

FOR the second time in as many weeks Merthyr rose to second in the table to maintain the pressure on top dogs Cardiff, now only two points clear, and Llandovery.

The Drovers had the chance to reclaim second a day later as the race for a top two finish, which guarantees a home draw in the semi-final playoffs, intensified with five games to go.

Rowland Phillips has turned The Ironmen into a very difficult team to beat, and a side that has rediscovered its mojo up front. Their set-pieces are as strong as ever and the much-improved Ravens weren’t able to halt their driving mauls.

That said, the visitors made an excellent start, stringing together a couple of attacking phases, before Luke Price kicked them into a seventh minute lead with a wind-assisted penalty. They then lost Iestyn Merriman to a yellow card and suffered their first forward assault form the home side midway through the opening half

Merthyr kicked a penalty to the corner, drove the line-out maul to the line before knocking on. But hooker converted the next drive to notch the first try of the game.

Bridgend responded with a great try of their own that came from an inspired chip ahead by Edd Howley that paved the way for Dafi Davies to score and Price to convert to give them a 10-7 interval lead.

The Ironmen flexed their muscles after the break to pick up four more tries, the first a penalty try that saw Zac O’Driscoll get 10 minutes in the sin-bin for collapsing another unstoppable maul. Wing Terri Gee, No.8 Phil Rees and replacement Morgan Macleam completed the drive for the bonus-point, while Price added another penalty for the Ravens.