Jamie Murphy’s late drop goal gave the Ravens a dramatic victory over his former side and took his current team up to 13th after a disappointing run of form. The Wizards’ title chances also took a hit in the process. Bridgend scored before the break through Aaron Grabham, but Aberavon responded through Iwan Temblett.
It sent up a grandstand finish and after Cai Evans kicked a monster 50-metre penalty to tie the game at 13-13, fly-half Murphy stepped up to deliver a match-winning three points.
“It’s so tight in the middle of the table from 10th down. A win takes you up four or five places so we need to back this result up against Cross Keys,” said Bridgend head coach Silva. “At 13-10 Aberavon had a lot of possession and pinned us in our own half. The boys did well to get out and after Cai kicked the penalty, Jamie was as cool as you like for the drop goal.
“The most important thing was to restore belief in the environment that we can win and with that belief, I think we can be a good team. It means I can get some sleep for the first time in a while!
“We’ve had a poor run and lacked intent, but we’re back at the races now.”
Evans opening the scoring with an early penalty and Grabham then crossed for the first try of the day with Evans improving the score. James Garland narrowed Aberavon’s deficit before the break, but the Wizards’ comeback hopes were hit when Joe Tomalin-Reeves was yellow carded.
It didn’t stop them from scoring through scrum-half Temblett and a conversion and penalty from Garland actually put Aberavon into the lead. Bridgend replacement Jack Pope also saw yellow.
Evans was the man to level the scores as he continued a fine kicking display from the halfway line and there was still time for Murphy to send the Brewery Field crowd went wild with delight.
Aberavon head coach Jason Hyatt said: “We are very disappointed. We had a poor first half where we had to defend for long periods, but Bridgend only scored through our mistake from a box kick.
“We turned that around to score a nice try and took control in the second half, but we relinquished that control in the final 10 minutes. We’ve had some good wins away from home, but didn’t display that same standard.”
Pontypridd remained in touch with rivals Merthyr at the top of the Premiership table with a thumping 51-14 victory over Bargoed.
The Bulls made Ponty work for a slender 13-7 lead at half-time after centre Darren Humphries replied to Dale Stuckey’s score. But the five-time champions unleashed a second-half blitz with a brace from no.8 Alun Lawrence sparking a feast of tries.
Rhys Shellard bagged the bonus-point before Bargoed hit back through James Leadbitter, but Ponty stormed to victory thanks to Alex Webber, Huw Rees and Stuckey.
“We’re still second, but it was a fantastic win against Bargoed and it keeps our momentum going which is really important,” said head Burnell. “We didn’t have the best first half, but we responded in the second half and I was very pleased with the performance on the day and to score 50 points.
“The brand of rugby we play is fantastic. We try to challenge teams with ball in hand and even though the Bargoed game was not played in the best conditions, we still tried to do the same.
“We scored some really nice tries and to get six in total was superb. We’ve been doing it all season. I think we are 10 tries clear of every other team which is a big statement to the division. Now we’ve got to stay in the fight going into the New Year and we’ve got a big game against Cardiff on New Year’s Day which will be massive for us.
“We are still behind Merthyr and they are a good side. They’ve got a lot of strength in depth and that’s important in a competition where you play 30 matches even without the cup. They’re out in front, but we’re happy to sit on the inside rail and we have a nice little position where we are now. We’re ready to push on in the New Year.”
Merthyr returned to winning ways to maintain their five-point lead at the top with a 30-5 triumph over Carmarthen Quins at the Wern. Cardiff lost ground on the league leaders as they fell victim to a Rhys Jones drop-goal in the dying minutes of their 22-20 defeat at Ebbw Vale. The Steelmen moved back into fourth place and only two points behind the Blue and Blacks with the dramatic victory.
A brace from Sam Jones helped RGC earn a 33-13 triumph over Cross Keys on Friday night, while Swansea moved well clear of danger with a five-try victory over Bedwas at St. Helens. Llandovery overcame tricky conditions to rack-up six tries in a 43-10 triumph over Newport to bring the Black and Ambers back down to earth following their win over Merthyr. Neath were put to the sword by Llanelli, who plundered 11 tries in a 69-12 victory at the Gnoll.
