Quins headed north to face RGC 1404 last weekend and came close to becoming the first team to win at Parc Eirias this season. They eventually had to settle for a 20-20 draw, while the Ironmen picked up a bonus-point as they beat Pontypridd at home.
“It is going to be a tough challenge to catch Merthyr, but I don’t think anyone is going to be giving up any time soon on chasing them down. We still have to play Llandovery, Merthyr and Pontypridd away from home, so we have got to use our result in Colwyn Bay as a springboard for the future,” said Kelly.
“Everyone knows the quality of the Merthyr squad and they have an experienced coach and group of players. But RGC are also a top side, well coached and they play a good brand of play.
“We had a high ball in play time of around 36.5 minutes and it was close right to the end. We felt we were unlucky not to win, but I’m sure they would have felt the same if they had lost.
“It was a tight one and our boys put in a hard shift. We just have to try to keep on winning week on week. We need a bit of luck with injuries, but since the end of last season we have strengthened the depth of our squad and we are in a better position to withstand any problems.”
RGC led 12-10 at the break thanks to tries from Tom Hughes and Iolo Evans, the first of which was converted by Jacob Botica. Steff Marshall kicked a penalty and converted a try by Richard Bloomfield for the visitors before the break.
The second half saw Dylan Morgan slice through to score a second Quins try, which Marshall once again improved, to make it 17-12 to the visitors and it was nip and tuck all the way. RGC picked up a third try from former Quins player Dion Jones to level and Botica rattled the upright with his conversion attempt.
The home outside half then made amends by landing a 70th minute penalty to edge his side ahead, but Marshall levelled things up again two minutes from time with another penalty. Both sides remain unbeaten in the second phase, with the Gogs having a game in hand in third place.
Cardiff Blues prop Corey Domachowski was sent off by referee Ben Whitehouse after only 15 minutes of Pontypridd’s derby clash with Merthyr after a brawl that also saw home skipper and second row Craig Locke pick up a yellow card.
At that stage the visitors were trailing to a Matthew Jarvis penalty and went on to lose 30-21. Jarvis added a second penalty in the 80th minute to deny Ponty a losing bonus point and he also converted two of his side’s four tries.
A great score in the corner by Dale Stuckey, superbly converted off the touchline by Ceri Sweeney, briefly gave Ponty the lead before the reigning champions flexed their muscles to grab tries through wings Richard Carter and Alex Howman to go into the break with a 15-7 lead.
Veteran Ponty lock Chris Dicomidis was denied a try at the start of the second half for a final forward pass and then Howman picked up his second try, which Jarvis again improved, to stretch the Merthyr lead. That left the visitors’ with a mountain to climb, but a Morgan Sieniawski try converted by Sweeny brought them back into the contest.
The Ironmen secured their try bonus-point with 10 minutes to go when prop Nathan Trevett crashed over, but a final flourish from Ponty saw centre Geraint Walsh try cross for a try that Sweeney converted to seemingly secure a losing bonus-point.
But from the re-start Ponty infringed and up stepped Jarvis to nail the final score and deny them anything after a huge effort against the odds.
Newport are also three from three in fourth place thanks to their 29-20 home win over Llanelli. They also have a game in hand on the top two, but trail Merthyr by nine points.
No 8 Alex Everett picked up two of the home side’s four tries and there were other scores from Wales Sevens international Chay Smith in the centre and Geraint O’Driscoll at full back. Haydn Simmons converted three of the tries and Matt O’Brien chipped in with a penalty at the death to deny the visitors, who scored two tries themselves through Matt Jenkins and Leon Randell, a losing bonus-point.
Scrum half Tom Rowlands helped himself to a hat-trick of tries as Bedwas hit Neath for six in an impressive 40-10 win at The Gnoll. It was just the boost they needed before heading to Championship club Beddau on Wednesday night (21 February) for their re-arranged WRU National Cup clash to see who will meet Newport in the quarter-finals.
Other tries for Bedwas came from James Richards and Adam Williams. There was also a penalty try and four conversions from Steffan Jones.
While Neath remain anchored to the bottom of the table, there were no wins for any of the bottom four teams. Bridgend were beaten for the second time in a week at the Brewery Field by much improved Ebbw Vale, 21-18, while Aberavon went down 16-14 at Bargoed, who rose to 12th thanks to their home triumph.
Llandovery may have been outscored by four tries to two by visiting Cardiff, but the boot of Jack Maynard picked up 16 points and edged them to a thrilling 26-24 win. The Blue & Blacks left with two points, but will have felt it should have been more after Will Rees-Hole scored twice and Dan Fish and Adam Jones also picked up tries.
Cross Keys bagged a try bonus-point within an hour at St Helen’s as Josh Skinner (2), Richard Cornock and Darren Hughes all crossed the Swansea line in a 30-23 win. Josh Guy and Richard Fussell crossed for the home side, who had a penalty from Gareth Walters four minutes from time to thank for picking up a losing bonus-point.
