Outside half Scrivens ended the game with 23 points from seven penalties and a conversion on his Ponty debut The home side crossed for two tries through wing Dale Stuckey and flanker Aled Ward and also picked up a penalty try.
“It’s just nice to bounce back after the disappointment of last week. “We’ve just got to build on this now,” said Ponty head coach Justin Burnell.
“We all know we should have done better last week and we showed what we are capable of. Bridgend deserve full credit for the win last weekend but we were well worth our win today.
“It was a dram debut for Joe Scrivens, and it is the same wth Aled Ward. We wanted a reaction and that’s why we brought in some younger players.”
Burnell made nine changes to his starting line-up for the visit of the Ravens and Ponty started with real purpose with Stuckey striking after only five minutes.
Bridgend replied with a try by full back Edd Howley and a Luke Price penalty before Scrivens landed four straight penalties to give the home side a well-deserved 23-8 lead at half time.
After the break, Scrivens’ metronomic boot kept the Ponty score ticking over in a much tighter second half. Then flanker Ward burrowed over from short range.
Ponty were awarded a penalty try for a professional foul, which saw Mike Powell yellow carded for tackling a man without the ball, to secure a comfortable win for the home side.
Scorers: Pontypridd: Tries: D Stuckey, A Ward, Pen Try; Con: J Scrivens; Pens: J Scrivens 7. Bridgend: Try: E Howley; Pen: L Price 1
MERTHYR 12 – 36 LLANDOVERY
The Warren brothers joined forces to bury The Ironmen under an avalanche of five tries as the Drovers not only picked up five points, but also grabbed their first win at The Wern.
Former Wales and Dragons centre Adam Warren crossed for two of Llandovery’s scores, while younger brother Aaron, on the wing, got another to earn the visitors’ back-to-back wins at the start of the new campaign.
“We’ve achieved something we have never done before and that is win away at Merthyr. To to come away with a bonus point is really the cherry on the cake for us,” said a delighted Drovers head coach, Euros Evans.
“We’re really happy with the result and the performance and it’s been a brilliant win for Llandovery away from home.
“Adam Warren proved his quality, and I can’t really believe that he isn’t playing for the Dragons but we won’t complain about that and are delighted he is with us. He was quite outstanding and to score two tries and to see the impact he has had around the squad and our attacking game is there for all to see.”
Warren senior crossed for a brace of first half tries, with prop Jamie Hughes also crossing twice before the younger Warren finished things off as he ran in Llandovery’s fifth and final try.
Full back Jack Maynard landed nine points with the boot for the visitors, while former Wales and Dragons scrum-half Tavis Knoyle and wing Dafydd Thomas crossed for the home side’s tries.
The Drovers opened the scoring with Adam Warren’s first score, which Maynard improved, to secure a lead the Drovers would never surrender. The home side replied with a try of their own after a cross kick saw Dafydd Thomas cross.
Centre Warren ran in his second try just on the stroke of half-time and Maynard added the extras to give the visitors a 14-5 interval lead.
After the break, the visitors made the home side pay for their indiscipline which earned yellow cards for flanker Osian Davies and replacement lock Callum Bradbury. They were punished for persistent infringing as the home penalty count rose as the Drovers upped the tempo.
Llandovery took full advantage scoring three further tries with loosehead prop Hughes crossing for his try brace before wing Warren sealed a comfortable victory.
Scorers: Merthyr: Tries: D Thomas, T Knoyle; Con: J Lewis. Llandovery: Tries: Adam Warren 2, J Hughes 2, Aaron Warren; Cons: J Maynard 4) Pen: J Maynard
ABERAVON 31 – 24 LLANELLI
Former Fijian age-grade international wing Ben Raivalitia crowned his debut off the bench for Llanelli with a late try that meant they left the Talbot Athletic Ground with a losing bonus-point.
The visitors were 16 points adrift on the hour mark as they paid for having three players – skipper Chris Long, scrum half Harri Wiliams and lock Jac Price – sent to the sin-bin. That helped the Wizards dominate up front.
Aberavon struck first with a Joe Gage try that Rhys Jones improved, then full back Stef Andrews turned on the gas to speed over in the corner to make it 12-0. It looked then as though the home team could run riot, but Price responded with a try on the half-hour mark which Wales U20 outside half Josh Phillips converted before adding a penalty to make it 12-10 at the break.
Price then saw yellow nine minutes into the second half and immediately Luke Davies drove over for a try that Jones again improved to stretch the Wizards lead. Ashton Evans followed suit, with Aled Thomas converting, to make it 26-10.
To their credit, Llanelli scored two tries in the final 10 minutes, through Luke Davies and Raivalitia, to ensure they left with something to show for their efforts, while Andrew Waite added a fifth for the Wizards in between.
Scorers: Aberavon: Tries: J Gage, S Andrews, L Davies, A Evans, A Waite; Cons: R Jones 2, A Thomas. Llanelli: Tries: J Price, L Davies, B Raivalitia; Cons: T Rees 2, J Phillips; Pen: J Phillips
EBBW VALE 24 – 8 RGC
They may have been missing their head coach, Jason Strange, who was on duty as part of the St Helens coaching tam at the Super League Grand Final, but The Steelmen didn’t suffer as they made it back-to-back wins.
Having won at Newport in the opening game they were good value for their home triumph over RGC, building up a 10–point interval lead before closing things out with two second half penalties.
Strange saw 25 players go out in the summer and rejuvenated his new look squad with 27 new boys. His emphasis on youth appears to be working, with the two first half tries coming from former Wales U20 wing Carrick McDonough.
He used his speed to bag the first, while his second came after great back line handling from a solid scrum base, Evan Lloyd converted the first and added two penalties in the opening half, the second a monster off the half-way line.
The Gogs momentarily hit the front at 8-7 thanks to a Dion Jones penalty and then try from wing Rhys Tudor. But that was as good as it got for them.
They trailed 18-8 at the break and then conceded two more penalties to Lloyd in a game that saw Tudor and home wing Jordan Thomas see yellow for a late charge and high tackle respectively.
Scorers: Ebbw Vale: Tries: C McDonough 2; Con: E Lloyd; Pens: E Lloyd 4. RGC: Try: R Tudor; Pen: D Jones
