The latest generation of the Burnell dynasty kicked a conversion and three penalties as Pontypridd recovered from 14-5 down at half time to keep their opposition scoreless in the second 40.
Home tries at Sardis Road came from Dale Stuckey and Lloyd Rowlands with Ben Burnell contributing the rest from the kicking tee. Pontypridd’s 16 unanswered points proved key.
“It was a good win. With the way the game started we were under the cosh but we’re a young and inexperienced team who don’t roll over. We’re lucky with the players we have,” said Justin Burnell.
“Evan and Ben were outstanding and we must remember these are young players. Those two boys are coming into us from a national Under-20 campaign from the summer.
“We never fear the worst and anybody could see Merthyr were all about the catch and drive. Once we got our house in order, we were able to play with width and we were on the front foot with Ben’s kicking which was massive for us.”
Ben Burnell got things moving when he kicked to Stuckey who scored out wide. The conversion was missed and then Pontypridd’s Ben Stephens was yellow carded.
It allowed Merthyr to strike with a penalty try when Pontypridd sacked an away driving line-out just two metres from the line. Nathan Huish joined Stephens in the bin for the crime.
Gareth Thompson made it two for Merthyr with a try he improved and it left Pontypridd with plenty to do in the second half. The home side needed to turn the tables and they did just that.
Rowlands crossed just two minutes after the break and Ben Burnell converted.
The young fly-half then took his game up a notch with two more quickfire penalties just three minutes apart. It set up a tight finale but Merthyr couldn’t comeback.
And the final nail in their coffin was yet another kick from Ben Burnell as a superb defensive shift from Pontypridd saw them hang on despite a late yellow for Lloyd.
Merthyr head coach Dale McIntosh saw his current team defeated at his former club.
He said: “We had our chances. We tried to grind them down but it didn’t work because we made errors at crucial times. In the second half we had five bad moments.
“The game was in our hands to win but when you come to Sardis Road it’s never plain sailing and a young Pontypridd side got among us and frustrated us. Good on them.”
Ebbw Vale head coach Greg Woods admitted his team had shot themselves in the foot after the Steelmen suffered a first defeat of the WRU Premiership Cup season.
Cardiff bounced back from defeat at Newport in impressive fashion as Steve Law’s side recorded a convincing 27-3 bonus-point success at Eugene Cross Park.
Young forwards Iestyn Harris and Gwilym Bradley both crossed twice as Ebbw were overpowered and weren’t helped by poor discipline.
“We were outplayed by a very physical Cardiff side,” said Woods.
“They put us under pressure and our mistakes killed us. We need to regroup for a huge challenge next week in Colwyn Bay.
“The mistakes we made came from Cardiff’s line speed and kicking game. We struggled to get a foothold in the game and our mistakes cost us.”
Jake Beetham booted Cardiff into an early lead before Ebbw tighthead Dave Whiting saw yellow.
And with a man advantage the Blue and Blacks claimed the game’s first try when hooker Harris went over. Promising young regional talent Bradley was the next to grab a try.
Beetham converted to seal a 15-0 lead and cement Cardiff’s fast start.
Fly-half Lewis K Williams narrowed the gap and put the Steelmen on the board with a penalty before the break but the home side turned around with it all to do.
In fact, Williams’ penalty turned out to be Ebbw’s only points.
Bradley’s second at the start of the second half effectively ended the game as a contest and Ebbw were never going to come back from 20-3 down.
Ebbw replacement forward Dan Hill was the next Vale man to see yellow and it allowed Harris to join Bradley in making it a brace for the afternoon. Beetham improved the try.
That was the end of the scoring as Ebbw’s poor discipline and the strength of Cardiff’s forwards combined to seal what in the end a comfortable away win.
Newport overturned a 12-point deficit to claim a hard-fought 27-15 away win at RGC 1404.
Ty Morris’ side were forced to dig deep in Colwyn Bay but showed their class in the second half with flanker Josh Skinner outstanding throughout.
The visitors made the worst possible start when RGC’s Harri Evans collected a grubber kick to score the opening try. Danny Cross converted. Will Reed pulled three points back for the visitors before RGC left wing Rhys Tudor showed his gas to score their second try.
RGC were superior in every aspect of play in the first half with another penalty from Cross on the stroke of half time ensuring the Gogs turned around with a 15-3 lead.
But Newport were a different side after the break and pulled themselves straight back into the game when Wales Under-20 cap Lennon Greggains powered over from short range.
And Ollie Andrew levelled the scores as he showed tremendous pace to touch down for the Black & Ambers’ second try.
Newport had now wrestled momentum away from RGC and they were soon celebrating their third try when hooker Henry Palmer touched down after a powerful driving line-out by the visitors.
And Clayton Gullis secured the victory for Newport by touching down for the bonus-point try after being the beneficiary of some superb handling from his inside backs.
