Having been forced to go into a play-off game against Pontypool to maintain their Premiership status last season, head coach Paul Fisher was all smiles after his side followed up their win at Ebbw Vale with a well earned triumph over one of this season’s best teams.
The Wizards simply couldn’t break the stranglehold put on them by Llanelli’s fine defence and the visitors also conjured up two excellent tries. Aberavon didn’t manage their game well and the incessant stoppages meant they never got into their usual rhythm.
“To lose at home, and in a game that we so badly managed, is disappointing. We panicked in the last 10 minutes or so,” admitted Aberavon head coach Jason Hyatt.
“Our attacking game never got going and we never put them under any sustained pressure. I would like to see the amount of time in which the ball was in play – it wasn’t much.”
If Angus O’Brien had not failed with three of his five penalty attempts, the visitors would have been out of sight. Even so, the Scarlets outside half still had a massive influence on the game, scoring one of his side’s two tries and landing two penalties.
Llandovery thought they had won the game in the 79th minute and then found themselves losing it in the 80th as Matthew Jarvis stepped up to win it for the champions 33-31 with virtually the last kick of the game.
The cruellest of offside verdicts from a last minute re-start allowed the Ironmen’s full back to step up and win a game that a minute earlier looked lost and rescue the champions from another defeat.
Llandovery had fought back from conceding a try within 30 seconds of the start of the game, and then a 15 point deficit after the break, to find themselves leading for the first time in the match thanks to tries from Ricky Guest and Shaun Miles in the final six minutes.
Jack Maynard fluffed his lines with the first conversion, but hit the mark to make it 31-30 with his second to leave the Drovers just having to regather the re-start to take the win. That’s where it all went horribly wrong.
A pin-point kick went 13 metres, up went a Llandovery player to challenge and the ball tipped off his hand and went forward into the arms of a team mate in an offside position. Up stepped Matthew Jarvis and over went a 38 metre, match winning penalty.
Former Wales wing Chris Czekaj, playing at centre, had a hand in two of Merthyr’s three tries. His break paved the way for Sam Jones to score the opener and then a neat kick through allowed Ashley Norton to cross. Adam Thomas got the other try for the Ironmen.
Jarvis kicked 18 points for the champions and Jack Maynard got 14 for the Drovers, who also had a penalty try.
After their seventh successive win of the season took them 11 points clear at the top of the table, Cardiff know they will get the chance to inflict even more damage on one of their biggest title rivals later this week.
While the Blue & Blacks were picking up another bonus-point at Bridgend, Aberavon were losing for the first time at home to Llanelli. The Wizards head to the Arms Park on Friday night for a massive match that could be crucial in the title race.
As for Bridgend, they are facing a different sort of challenge at the bottom end of the table. Steve Jones’ side are now two points behind Ebbw Vale with a game in hand, but need to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible.
“At home we are a good outfit. It is well documented how many players we’ve got out injured, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” said head coach Jones.
“We’ve got a good enough team to beat teams, even Cardiff, but when we make a few mistakes the scoreboard starts to get bigger and we put ourselves under pressure. We had a good start, but then struggled to control it.
“Cardiff are probably the strongest team in the league, but I still wanted more from us today. We were in it but the yellow card cost us and we have to get better at controlling the ball, look after field position and hopefully get more points.”
Stuart Floyd- Ellis and Tom Habberfield exchanged first-half tries and five points from the boot of Gareth Thompson helped Cardiff on their way to a slender 10-5 interval lead.
Evan Yardley and Sam Beard, twice, added further tries in the second period, while Iestyn Merriman grabbed a late consolation score for the battling home side. The home side took the lead at the expense of a Cardiff line-out as Yardley’s throw fell to his opposite number Gareth Harvey, who surged forward. The ball went wide and allowed Floyd-Ellis to dash over.
Bridgend’s lead was short-lived as Cardiff hit back immediately with former Ospreys scrum-half Habberfield finding a gap and touching down for a draw that half-back partner Gareth Thompson improved.
Thompson added a penalty, but the visitors couldn’t make the most of a man advantage when Floyd-Ellis went to the sin-bin and it was 10-5 at the break. The outside half then added another penalty at the start of the second half on his way to a 14 point match haul that took his season’s tally to 95 points in nine games.
Cardiff’s second try fell to Yardley from a line-out drive and then Beard went over at the posts. Thomson converted them both to extend the lead. Bridgend hit back with a corner try from Merriman that Jacob Chilcott converted before Beard rounded things off with his second.
Newport failed to improve on a two match winning run as they went down to a nail-biting 37-35 home defeat against Pontypridd. The Black & Ambers still emerged with two points, but it was Ponty who headed home with a full house after both teams scored four tries.
Ebbw Vale’s season continued to disappoint as they slumped to another defeat, this time losing out 26-20 at home to Carmarthen Quins – a fifth consecutive loss in all competitions.
After losing five of their opening six league games the onus was on the Steelmen to turn the form book upside down, but that plan was dented before everyone had taken their seats in the stands. Ed Siggery was afforded too much space and he did not need a second invitation to exploit it to give the visitors the lead.
The former Wales U20 back row man picked up a second try before the end and Jon Evans and Morgan Griffiths crossed the home line to ensure the Quins left with a bonus point.
A powerful display by the RGC 1404 pack was enough to earn the North Walian side a hard fought 21-3 victory over Swansea at Stadiwm Zip World. The Gogs got off the mark with a penalty try after mounting early pressure.
They added two more before the end, while Swansea’s only points came from a Josh Thomas penalty.
