Having seen their Gwent rivals Newport overpower Bridgend at the Brewery Field 57-27 on Thursday night to overtake them, The Steelmen hit back immediately with their own bonus point win.
No.8 Alex Howes and scrum-half Rory Harries each touched down twice as they turned on the power. Right-wing Carrick McDonough, lock Curtis Gregory, Harry Drane and hooker Rhys Francis got their other tries with outside-half Evan Lloyd landing five conversions and Kieran Meek another.
Llandovery stayed top following a stamina-sapping 27-10 victory over Aberavon at Church Bank. That made it back-to-back wins over the Wizards after they knocked them out of the cup the previous weekend.
The Drovers were made to scrap for it and were delighted to secure a bonus point with a penalty try and scores from hooker Taylor Davies, wing Aaron Warren and replacement hooker Craig Thomas. Full-back Jack Maynard landed a conversion and a penalty.
Aberavon gave a good account of themselves despite a damaging start which saw yellow cards for centre Callum Carson, hooker Cameron Lewis and wing Chris Banfield inside 12 minutes, allowing Llandovery to ease into a 19-3 lead.
The Wizards’ forwards competed aggressively at the breakdown and restricted Llandovery to a penalty from full-back Maynard and a close-range bonus-point try from Craig Thomas in the second half. Aberavon got a deserved try from replacement scrum half Scott Whitlock with Aled Thomas converting.
Swansea got the better of bottom of the table Neath 27-22 at The Gnoll in a dramatic west Wales derby. The All Whites had to work hard to deny the home side a first Premiership win of the campaign.
Outside-half Steff Williams put Neath into a six-point lead with back-to-back penalties but Swansea hit back with tries from scrum-half Gareth Rees and hooker Owen Thomas. Outside-half Rhys Jones converted both and added a penalty for a 17-9 lead at the end of the first half, Williams having stroked over a third penalty for Neath.
Jones slotted a penalty for Swansea but a couple of yellow cards allowed Neath back in with Williams kicking his fourth successful penalty and converting centre Kristian Jones’ try.
But Swansea regained their composure with Thomas getting his second try, converted by substitute Keillen Cullen. Neath bagged a losing bonus point when Williams put over a fifth penalty for a 17-point haul.
Cardiff rocketed to a 45-20 victory against Merthyr at The Wern to climb to fifth with left-wing Dewi Cross getting two tries while full-back Jacob Beetham was immaculate with the boot as he racked up a 15-point haul.
Beetham and hooker Efan Daniel had swapped the cauldron-like atmosphere of Stade Ernest Wallon and facing Toulouse in the Investec Champions Cup a week ago for the Premiership.
The Blue and Blacks had led 17-8 at the end of the first but saw off their rivals in the Taff Valley derby with outside-half Jacob Lloyd and flanker Nathan Hudd, the latter’s effort bagging a precious bonus point, scoring. Former Merthyr centre Aaron Pinches and Kodie Stone joined them on the scoresheet.
