After losing at Swansea last weekend it looked as though their title challenge was over, but the Drovers’ thrilling win over table-topping Merthyr on Wednesday night means the gap is only seven points and the Blue & Blacks have a game in hand.
Merthyr host Bargoed at The Wern on Saturday and will know how serious their defeat at Church Bank might be after tonight’s televised game. Cardiff beat Ponty 34-15 at home on New Year’s Day and picked up a bonus-point into the bargain.
That was their first victory over Ponty since 2009 and now Law is demanding a double to keep his side in the title race. After tonight the focus will turn to the WRU National Cup final against Merthyr at Principality Stadium on Sunday, 28 April.
“It is the biggest game of the season for both clubs and it is going to be a war. It will be a hostile atmosphere and if we are to stand any chance of staying in the title race we will not only need to win, but take a bonus point as well,” said Law.
“We thought we had blown our chances when we lost at Swansea last weekend, but Llandovery did us a favour. We are looking for a reaction from the players after the performance at Swansea.
“We were hugely disappointed at our defeat at St Helen’s and as good as Swansea were, we were our own worst enemies for periods of that game. I always ask for performances levels of seven out of 10 or above, but some of the players were down around three or four.
“We had prepared well for the game, but the top two inches let us down. We can’t afford for that to happen again this season.”
Law’s bitter disappointment from last weekend was mirrored by his Merthyr counterpart, Dale McIntosh, after his side’s 36-21 loss at Llandovery. Two yellow cards and a push over try contributed to their downfall and skipper Craig Locke also picked up a badly broken nose.
The champions arrived with a six point lead over nearest rivals Cardiff, but they left with only a later try bonus-point as the Drovers moved to within one point of second place. The game got off to a blistering start with the champions scoring first after only four minutes only for the Drovers to take the lead with two of their own in a magical five minute spell.
It was all square at three tries apiece before the final, thrilling break out from their own half by Llandovery earned Gareth Davies a yellow card for some desperate interference at a ruck on his line and Jack Maynard kicked the penalty.
That made it 23-21 to the home side and referee Adam Jones’ half-time whistle gave everyone at Church Bank the chance to finally catch their breath. The three Merthyr tries in the opening half all came from their wings, Kyle Evans opening the scoring and then Jay Baker crossing twice, while home wing Aaron Warren picked a great line to break through three tackles and score the first for the Drovers.
Lock Rhys Jones was next over the line five minutes later and centre Ryan Evans touched down at the bottom of a post pad for the third. It was helter-skelter stuff and third-placed Llandovery were good value for their lead.
After witnessing more than a point a minute in the opening half, there was a lull in the third quarter for the crowd as both sides probed for openings, but failed to find them. Merthyr then lost their second player to the sin-bin when Osian Davies was caught cynically pulling down Jack Jones at a line-out on half-way.
That gave Llandovery the chance to kick into the Merthyr 22 and four minutes later they made their numerical advantage pay with a driving line-out try from replacement prop Dino Dallavalle after they had turned down three points from a kick in front of the posts and kicked to the corner.
That guaranteed a bonus point, put the home side two scores ahead, but Maynard missed with the conversion. It didn’t matter, though, because he was back on target five minutes later when he added the extras to a push over try from No 8 Richard Brooks.
Merthyr will have to get back to winning ways against a much improved Bargoed side this weekend, while the buoyant Drovers, now only a point behind second placed Cardiff, host Carmarthen Quins in the Scarlets regional derby.
At the other end of the table, the battle to stay out of the bottom four will continue as Llanelli welcome Swansea and Cross Keys visit Newport. Bedwas also have a tough away trip to Ebbw Vale, while Bridgend host RGC 1404.
