The Drovers hung on to beat Ebbw Vale in a close contest on Thursday night in which they hit back from a 17-13 deficit to restrict the home side to a mere penalty goal in the second half.
Ryan Davies opened the scoring for the Steelmen with a seventh minute try as he showed off his speed to come off his wing and join in a great back line move from a scrum in the Drovers’ 22.
Evan Lloyd improved the try with a wide-angled conversion and there was also a penalty try from a powerful scrum and a Lloyd penalty to keep the home side ahead at the break.
The visitors responded with a great try from Ioan Hughes, completing a move that started on his 10 metre line as Llandovery ran back a loose kick out of defence. Jack Maynard added the extras and also kicked two penalties.
“Jason Strange has made a major impact at Ebbw Vale since re-joining the coaching team and Eugene Cross Park is going to be a very difficult place for any team to go to and win,” said Drovers head coach Euros Evans.
As the conditions worsened after the break, the Drovers pack came into their own and they picked up a penalty try, and forced the Steelmen to lose a man to the sin-bin, with an unstoppable driving line-out that was pulled down on the home line.
That made it 20-20 and Maynard was the hero in the end as he knocked over the winning penalty. There was still some late drama to come with Llandovery having to face a final line-out 10 metres out from their line and down to 13 men with Ioan Hughes and Jamie Hughes in the sin-bin.
The Steelmen had the whiff of victory in their nostrils, but were penalised for obstruction as they tried to wind up their driving maul. The Drovers sighed a big sigh of relief, kicked the ball dead and walked away with four points as they moved up into second place.
Today sees reigning champions Cardiff, who pipped the Steelmen by a point at the Arms Park last weekend, head north to RGC for what will be the first home game of the season for the Gogs.
“RGC are coming into the game on the back of a great result last weekend in convincingly beating Llanelli and we know we will have to be at our best to come away with anything from the long journey,” said Cardiff head coach Steve Law.
“We’ll need a better performance than last weekend to achieve that. We know how tough it will be, but we are ready and looking forward to the challenge.”
Top of the table Aberavon will have their unbeaten four match run put to the test at Sardis Road where Pontypridd will be hoping to bounce back from their 45-22 defeat at Swansea. The All Whites go to Merthyr hoping stay at least a point ahead of The Ironmen, while Carmarthen Quins will be seeking their first win of the season in their home derby clash with Llanelli.
The game between Newport and Bridgend has been postponed by mutual consent. The game will be re-scheduled for later in the season.
