Four second half tries saw the Valley Commandos recover from being behind at the break to win 30-16 against Aberavon at Sardis Road and make it three wins out of three under interim head coach Chris Dicomidis.
Chris Banfield’s early try and eight points from the boot of James Davies, against two Ben Burnell penalties for the home side, saw Aberavon with their noses in front 13-6 at half time.
Davies kicked his third penalty after the break but the second half belonged to Pontypridd with Niko Matawalu, Josh Phillips, Ryan Wilkins and Ben Stephens securing maximum points. Burnell converted the Wilkins and Stephens tries.
“It’s a massive victory for us as a group of players, especially being under the cosh in the first half,” said skipper Kristian Parker – who is also doubling up as interim forwards coach.
“The way the boys came out in the second half was outstanding. We’re enjoying throwing the ball about at the minute and the link play from the forwards to the backs and our transition has been really good – and something we can be proud of in the past few weeks.
“To captain a club of such magnitude in Ponty is always an achievement but the group of boys that we’ve got here and the backroom staff are a huge part of it and to get three wins on the bounce when we’ve gone through quite a tough period is nice to see.”
Pontypridd, who have two games remaining, are six points behind Cardiff and will need results to go massively in their favour to take the fourth play-off spot.
Cardiff, who have three games remaining, tightened their grip on fourth as they overcame Swansea 38-33 in an 11-try thriller at the Arms Park – before it was announced head coach Steve Law will depart at the end of the season.
Wing Kodie Stone’s try after just two minutes gave Cardiff the perfect start but three tries in five minutes from the visitors saw them hit the front.
Brandon Wood responded on 19 minutes before he then turned provider for full-back Harri Houston to score a second try, converted by Rhys Jones. No 8 Cai Davies soon added a third which again Jones improved as the visitors threatened to run riot, leading 19-5.
But back rower Craig Hudd’s try, converted by Arwel Robson, pulled the hosts back to within seven points at the break and three tries in a 20 minute period after the break through skipper Morgan Allen, centre Harrison James and scrum-half Joe Williams swung the match their way.
Swansea weren’t finished, however, with replacement Gareth J Rees scoring twice to secure them two bonus points, both converted by Jacob Symes, either side of a sixth Cardiff try scored by lock Sean Moore. Robson added his fourth conversion of the match.
Pontypool also took maximum points after overcoming 14-man Neath 40-24 in a fiery encounter at the Gnoll. A breathless first half yielded three tries apiece, a red card for Neath prop Jack Powell and yellow cards for Pooler skipper Scott Matthews and centre Joel Mahoney.
Neath, who scored all of their points in the first half, led 24-21 at the break thanks to tries from centre Kieran Charles, No.8 Taine Morgan and wing Ryan Griffiths, all converted by full-back Steff Williams who also kicked a penalty.
Mahoney and Mike Herbert dotted down in the first half for Pooler – who were awarded a penalty try by referee Gareth Newman after 27 minutes after Neath were repeatedly pinged for infringements in the scrum. Things then got heated with Powell shown a red card as a result.
Mahoney, Marcus Jones and Sam Scarfe scored for Pooler in the second half. Matthew Jarvis converted five of their six tries. Pooler are 12 points behind Cardiff but still have five matches to play.
Meanwhile, Premiership Cup finalists Merthyr, in seventh, are only a point further back and, with five to play, are not out of the play-off picture yet either. The Ironmen overcame Carmarthen Quins 36-34 in an 11-try ding-dong at the Wern.
Merthyr ran in six tries with wing Jack Kathrens at the double. Jack Perkins, Ethan Lloyd, Callum Bradbury and Josh Lewis also scored tries with the latter adding three conversions.
Elsewhere, a late Iestyn Merriman try secured a 23-20 victory for Bridgend at RGC. Edd Howley also scored for Bridgend with Jamin Hodgkins converting both tries along with three penalty goals.
Jordon Liney and Jessie Williams scored for RGC with Sam Earl-Jones kicking 10 points.
