Their 31-26 home win over the Drovers was a nail-biter all the way through, but Jason Hyatt’s side stayed true to their attacking philosophy and came up trumps in the end with full back Jon Phillips crossing with a minute left of real time to steer his side to victory.
“This game was played by the two best attacking sides in the division. Our defence was splendid, particularly in the opening 10 minutes when Llandovery would have had every right to lead, but the X-Factor of Chris Banfield has been important to us this season,” said Hyatt.
Banfield won the Man of the Match award by a street after putting in a brilliant performance on the wing. He kicked four penalties, added a conversion and made the running for the match-winner from Phillips.
The only consolation for Llandovery, who tasted defeat for the first time this season, was the fact they scored four tries and were able to leave with two points to stay locked on 21 at the top of the table with Ebbw Vale.
The Steelmen made it four from four with their 25-17 win over Neath at The Gnoll, but they had to dig deep to finally overpower the home side after falling behind 17-0 in the first-half. With former All Black and Scarlets star Regan King in superb form at No 10 for Neath on debut, the home fans were eyeing up a first win of the season after watching Chris Morgans and Ieuan Jones score tries.
But Ebbw hit back after the break to complete their third major fightback of the season to maintain their unbeaten run. Tries flowed from Paul King, Dan Haymond and Lance Randall and the combined boots of Carl Meyer and Rhys Jones did the rest of the damage.
Only three points separate the top five teams after five rounds of an ultra-competitive season, with Carmarthen Quins also very much in the hunt following their dramatic one point win at Bedwas, 35-34. The home side certainly helped the visitors pick up five points as they were reduced to 13 men early in the second half.
Adam Williams was sin-binned for an off the ball tackle in the 47th minute and three minutes later Jacob Chilcott followed him to the sidelines. It proved to be the turning point in the game at a time Bedwas were leading 27-13.
The Quins made the most of their two man advantage as No 8 Lewys Millin, who had spent 10 minutes in the cooler himself in the first half, and wing Dylan Morgans crossed for tries, the latter converted by Aled Thomas, to move to within two points of their hosts.
Gareth Rees and Elin Lloyd then added further tries for the Quins, for who Matthew John had grabbed their first against his former club in the opening half, and even though Dion McIntosh crossed for a fifth home try to wasn’t enough to regain the lead. The only consolation for Bedwas was they picked up two points to stay off the bottom
of the table.
There was also a significant move in the basement by Llanelli, who notched their first win of the season with a 30-17 home triumph over Newport. The visitors also suffered from yellow fever as they lost three players to the sin-bin during the game, Ryan James on 40 minutes, Will Evans after 70 and Josh Skinner on 80.
Llanelli led 10-7 at the break and ended with four tries from Tom Rogers, Liam Hutchings, Nathan Hart and Leon Randell to pick up a full set of five much needed points to move two off the bottom. It was just as well they got off the mark, because arch-rivals Swansea won back-to-back matches for the first time since February.
Their 34-29 win at Cross Keys was clinched by a thrilling 80 metre interception try by full back Luke Griffiths to hoist his match tally to 19 points a week after scoring 20 in the triumph over Neath. Hooker Paul John scored a try in each half and wing Andrew Claypole got a third as Swansea went into the break trailing 22-20
Then Griffiths stole the show at the death to move the Whites out of the relegation zone and up to 12th. Cross Keys took two points from the game thanks to tries from skipper Damian Welch, outside half Jason Tovey, who ended with 14 points, Dylan Fidler and Leon Andrews.
Cardiff got off to a flying start at the Arms Park against Bargoed as two tries from Will Rees-Hole and a third from No 8 Morgan Allen, all converted by Steff Jones, took them 21 points clear. Jones added a penalty before the break, but Bargoed bit back with a try from wing Matthew Billett which Josh Prosser converted to make it 24-7 at the break.
The home side finished with six tries, while second half efforts from Grant Rogers and Jordan Howells allowed Bargoed to finish with three. Cardiff have moved into 11th, with Bargoed two places below them.
Pontypridd were forced to come from behind in the second half of an entertaining contest at Bridgend before going on to win 44-35. Both sides scored five tries, but the boot of Ceri Sweeney held sway as he added three penalties to his five conversions to clinch victory.
PRINCIPALITY PREMIERSHIP – ROUND 5 RESULTS
Friday, 28 September
RGC 10 – 34 Merthyr
Saturday, 29 September
Aberavon 31 – 26 Llandovery
Bedwas 34 – 35 Carmarthen Quins
Bridgend 35 – 44 Pontypridd
Cardiff 43 – 21 Bargoed
Cross Keys 29 – 34 Swansea
Neath 17 – 25 Ebbw Vale
Sunday, 30 September
Llanelli 30 – 17 Newport
