Kyle Evans and Terri Gee scored the tries for the Ironmen either side of half-time and that proved enough to keep last season’s WRU National Championship winners on course for a tilt at an even bigger title this season as they leapfrog their neighbours to take over at the top.
Both teams had enjoyed contrasting fortunes in the WRU National Cup the previous weekend with Merthyr losing in the last play of the game to RGC 1404 and Ponty bagging a 13th final spot with victory over Cross Keys.
But Lee Jarvis’ Merthyr side proved they were not going to let the bitter taste of defeat against their north Wales rivals linger for long as they completed a Premiership double to go with the two wins they picked up against Ponty in the Challenge Cup.
Wales U20 outside half Ben Jones missed an opportunity to kick Ponty into an early lead before finally breaking the deadlock n a tense and often fiery contest with a penalty after 25 minutes. Jones’ Wales U20 half-back partner Dane Blacker was then sent to the sin-bin for pulling back Owen Howe and Mathew Jarvis levelled the scores with a perfect penalty strike for the Ironmen.
Then, seconds before the break, Merthyr took the lead when right wing Evans, who had gone close earlier in the half after latching onto a Jarvis cross-kick, was sent racing over for a try that was improved by Jarvis to make it 10-3 at half-time.
Mitch Auger picked up the visitors’ second yellow card of the game for a high tackle, but Jarvis failed to make the most of the chance as he uncharacteristically pushed his penalty attempt wide of the mark. It didn’t matter, though as Gee made sure the hosts added to their lead when he crossed for a second home try that Jarvis converted to make victory secure.
Llanelli made it two wins on the bounce in Tier 2 after they convincingly beat Swansea 32-15 at Parc y Scarlets. The west Walians, who beat Cardiff at the Arms Park a fortnight ago for their first win in the second tier of Premiership rugby, were able to bag the bonus-point at the death to ensure they moved ahead of Bridgend Ravens into third place.
A scrappy start saw both sides struggle to gain a foothold, bt Ioan Hughes broke the deadlock for Llanelli with a penalty midway through the first-half. That seemed to settle the hosts who added to their lead through Ryan Davies’ powerful try and Hughes’ extras.
Swansea reduced the deficit before the break after Matthew Aubrey’s clever tap and go released Josh Martin to scamper away with Phil Jones kicking the conversion. But Hughes added a penalty after the break and the visitors went down to 14 after Paul John’s yellow-card.
Jones did cut the gap with a penalty but Llanelli began to put their foot down. Craig Thomas found the second try and 10 minutes later Kalum Evans darted over for the third with Hughes spot on with both conversions. Aubrey crossed for The Whites to make it a healthier reading scoreline, but Nathan Edwards slid over with the clock in the red to cap off the bonus-point.
