Head coach Greg Woods could barely contain his disappointment at seeing his side go down to a 12-3 defeat. It came after tight head prop Rob Sevenoaks was sent-off five minutes from time and they conceded a game defining score from a driving line-out in the next play.
That cost The Steelmen any chance of robbing Cardiff of their unbeaten record this season and when Gareth Thompson stroked over the touchline conversion it also denied the Steelmen a losing bonus-point that was the least they deserved for their outstanding effort.
“It’s heartbreaking because we took a top team all the way and we are devastated we didn’t come away with anything. I felt we deserved something from it and the red card killed us in the end,” said Ebbw Vale head coach Greg Woods.
“It was difficult to lose the bonus-point through that, but I am still extremely proud of the effort put in by the players. They put in a hell of a shift and we rattled them.
“We will review the red card decision. Rob is not a dirty player and if anything has happened it was probably more accidental than anything else.”
Sevenoaks got his marching orders for using an elbow at a maul that was spotted by the touch-judge. Referee Aled Evans then had little choice other than to issue a red card.
The home side then kicked to the corner and used their extra-man to full advantage as they powered replacement hooker Ethan Lewis over the line for a match-clinching score. Worse still for brave Ebbw, Gareth Thompson’s near touchline conversion took away a losing bonus-point.
It meant the only consolation for Ebbw was the fact they conceded nine tries and 63 points less than the last time they visited the Arms Park. They have to return for a Specsavers Cup clash on Friday.
It took the home side 21 minutes to open their account when a Dan Fish finally unlocked the Ebbw defence as he kicked though and won the race for the touchdown. That was the only score of the first-half and Ebbw kept the squeeze on Cardiff in the second half.
They twice charged down home scrum half Ben Williams and almost worked his opposite number Dan Babos over for a try, only to be called back for offside. Their pressure finally turned into points on the hour mark when Dan Haymond, who missed a sitter in the first half, cut the gap to two points with a penalty.
Cardiff emptied their bench to add power and experience as the threat of defeat loomed larger and larger. The introduction of skipper Morgan Allen made a difference, but in the end it was the red card that proved the real turning point.
Carmarthen Quins head coach Emyr Phillips couldn’t have asked for more from his hooker Dom Booth as he proved himself to be a chip off the old block as the home side powered to a 22-6 victory.
Phillips, the former Scarlets and Wales hooker, scored many tries during his career from driving mauls and he could only sit back and admire Booth’s poaching skills as he helped himself to a hat-trick of tries.
“The weather suited us and we overcame them with a power game. Given the forwards we had available to us we knew what we could do,” said Phillips.
“I was really happy with the way the players managed the game. We had to ride out a bit of an early storm from RGC, but after that we were pretty much in control.
“We were disappointed to lose by three points at Pontypridd in our opening game, but since then things have picked up. We have learned from last season and I think we’re in a pretty good place at the moment.”
The north Walians had no answer to the Quins’ forward muscle as they fell to consecutive defeats having lost at home to Cardiff the previous weekend. Three driving mauls allowed Wales u18 and U19 cap Booth to steal the limelight and cement Quins’ place in the top-half of the table.
The West Wales hosts were looking to maintain their unbeaten home record having beaten Llanelli and Swansea in their two games to date, but they knew they were in for a dogfight in testing conditions at Carmarthen Park.
RGC, who were seeking their first win over the Quins since April 2017, got early success from their kicking game to force their hosts back into their own territory.
The early pressure led to a penalty that Billy McBryde thumped through the uprights from long-range for a valuable three-point lead as the rain poured down.
Quins outside-half Jack Wilson levelled the scores before their pack began to turn the screw on the North Walians.
They asserted their dominance midway through the first period as they shunted a short range lineout over the line for Booth to claim his first score.
Wilson converted but not before RGC lock Robin Williams was sent to the sin-bin for attempting to haul down the decisive maul.
McBryde cut the lead with a penalty before centre Tom Hughes was shown yellow to leave the visitors with 13 men.
Wilson sent the kick deep into the corner again and watched an exact replica of the first score play out in-front of him as Booth was pushed over the line to make it 15-6 at half-time.
Quins head coach Emyr Phillips had shown he had the formula to grind down the talented RGC side, and he watched on with glee as his side implemented the game plan again after the interval to seal the victory.
The youthful RGC pack were taught another harsh lesson just before the hour mark when the hosts produced a carbon copy of their previous two scores to snatch a dream treble for Booth. Edd Sigery was shown a yellow card for the hosts, but RGC failed to take advantage and left West Wales empty handed.
Newport defended as though their lives depended on it to hang onto their lead and notch a first win since 2011, 9-3, over Llandovery at Church Bank.
Matt O’Brien kept his nerve to kick three penalties to steer the Black & Ambers to only their second league win of this season to get their season back on track.
“It was always going to be a dog fight in the conditions and we controlled the first 60 minutes. Then we had to defend for our lives as they threw everything at us in the last 20,” said Newport head coach Tyron Morris.
“Both teams would have woken up on Saturday morning hoping the weather might have been kinder because we both like to play a bit wider. But our forwards stuck to their guns and came up with a very important win for us.”
You had to go back to April, 2011, for the last time Newport had won at Church Bank, when they won 29-18, and they were good value for their victory by three penalties to one on a very wet day.
Outside half Matt O’Brien put Newport ahead with a penalty and the visitors almost got a try when three players hared after a kick ahead and were just beaten to the touchdown by home wing Harri Doel.
Drovers No 10 Jack Maynard brought things level with an easy penalty, but it took some ferocious defence from the Llandovery forwards to keep the scores tied 3-3 at the break. With the advantage of the wind, the Drovers pressed hard for the opening try and a fine run by hooker Dafydd Hughes took them into a dangerous position before Newport forced a vital turn over.
Full back Elliot Frewen then made a brave mark near his line to relieve more pressure and when Newport worked their way upfield, O’Brien kicked an easy penalty to regain the lead. The Black & Amber pack began to boss the contact area and O’Brien kicked a superb, long-range penalty to extend the lead to 9-3 lead with 11 minutes to go.
Dale McIntosh was happy to see his defending champions, Merthyr, take the win 17-10 at Swansea against a very passionate and competitive home side.
“The conditions weren’t really what Swansea would have wanted as they like to play a more expansive game, but I felt both teams tried to play quality rugby. It was always going to be down to small margins and how many errors we both made,” said McIntosh.
“We picked up a couple of injuries, so we’ll assess how they are ahead of our tough encounter with Llandovery next time out.”
Happily returned skipper Craig Locke and Josh Martin picked up tries for the Ironmen, while Swansea had a try from centre Callum Carson. Rhys Jones converted both Merthyr tries and added a penalty.
Aberavon made it four wins out of four to stay hot on the heels of Cardiff at the top of the table as they pipped Pontypridd 16-15 to pick up their first win at Sardis Road since 2011. There were 11 points from the boot of Aled Thomas to go with a Joe Tomalin-Reeves try for the Wizards, while Ponty try-machine Dale Stuckey scored twice for the home side.
