They ran in five tries against a lacklustre Ebbw Vale side at Eugene Cross Park to prove that last weekend’s win at Bargoed was no flash in the pan. They ran out 34-20 victors to pick up their first five point haul of the season.
Keys skipper Scott Matthews crossed for the first try after only four minutes and by the break the visitors were well in command at 22-10 at the break. Josh Prosser converted the opening try and also added the extras to a try from Barney Nightingale.
The Keys outside half also added a penalty and full back Leon Andrews added a third to round off a great first-half display. The Steelmen mustered a penalty try and a Callum Hall penalty in response.
The second half started with a bang for Keys as centre Lewis Barnett raced over for the bonus-point try with less than a minute of the second half gone. Prosser converted and there was suddenly a 19 point gap.
Ebbw skipper crossed for a try to give the home fans a brief bit of hope, but then Keys scrum half James Leadbeater restored the 19 point advantage with a fifth try. Joe Franchi grabbed a third for Ebbw in the closing minutes, but it was much too little, too late.
A last gasp penalty from James Dixon cruelly robbed Bargoed of a losing bonus point at the Arms Park after the visitors had battled long and hard to pick up a potential third win of the season. They led 10-8 at the start of the second half when Cardiff were down to 14 men with Reuben Tucker in the sin-bin.
Matthew Lewis’s second successful goal kick of the night added to back row man Ieuan Jones’ try to overtake a Luke Fish penalty and a Will Rees-Hole try. A 63rd minute try from Tom Daley then ended the home side back in front and Dixon added the extras before putting the boot into battling Bargoed at the death.
Table-topping Pontypridd will have more than a seventh straight win in mind when they host Newport at Sardis rod. Top of the agenda will be revenge for their earlier defeat, 29-27, at Rodney Parade.
Wing Dale Stuckey and prop Will Davies-King both limped out of last week’s win over Ebbw Vale with ankle injuries and prop Keelan Marney is ruled out with shoulder damage. Making a welcome return from long term injury, however, are centre Gary Williams and flanker Ross Morgan, while prop Joe Popple is called up for his first involvement of the current campaign.
Richard Powell will return to his former club when Merthyr head to Bedwas for battle between the teams in second and third respectively.
~PRINCIPALITY PREMIERSHIP EAST – ROUND 9
RESULTS
10 November 2017
Cardiff 18, Bargoed 10
Cardiff: Llywarch Ap Myrddin; Pat Lewis, Will Rees-Hole, Adam Jones, Ceri Young; Luke Fish, Rhodri Cole; James Greenfield, Ian Jenkins, Peter Lloyd, Miles Normandale, James Murphy, Tom Daley, Luke Crocker, Reuben Tucker
Reps: Fraser Young, Corrie Tarrant, Curtis Hicks, Kris Smith, Chris Williams, Geraint Watkins, James Dixon, Bleddyn Davies
Bargoed: Matthew Lewis; Duane Dyer, Jordan Howells , Darren Humphries, Ashley Norton; Calum Jones, James Hallett; Rhys Morgan (captain), Geraint Clarke, Scott Evans, Matthew Thomas, Louis Blacker, Adam Coupe, Grant Rogers, Ieuan Jones
Reps: James Pizey, Julian Mogg, Lewis Bowden, James Locke, Lewis Weyman, Alex Gardner-Key, Lewys Lippiett, Michael Kavanagh
Ebbw Vale 20, Cross Keys 34
Ebbw Vale: Callum Hall; James Lewis, Srdan Majkic, Dom Franchi, Toby Fricker; Dai Langdon, Dan Babos; Ross Jones, Rhys Francis, Rob Sevenoaks, Lance Randall, Rhys Clarke, Cameron Regan, Ronny Kynes (captain), Jonathan Davies
Reps: Ian George, Joe Franchi, Josh James, Kristian Parker, Owen Jones, Carl Lewis, Lewis Dennett, Will Holle
Cross Keys: Leon Andrews; Mathew Powell, Lewis Barnett, Phil Williams, Barney Nightingale; Josh Prosser, James Leadbeater; Corey Hewlett, Will Griffiths, Richard Cornock, Tom Lampard, Josh Skinner, Taine Basham, Scott Matthews (captain), Adam Powell
Reps: Rob Jones, Gwesyn Price-Jones, Gary Carpenter, Dan Mock, Liam Davies, Corey Shephard, Callum Morris, Ben Snell
FIXTURES
11 November 2017
Bedwas v Merthyr
Bedwas: M Hathaway; M John, M Callow A Williams, R Wardle; S Jones, T Rowlands; D Preece, E Shipp, R Hutcherson, G Edmunds, J Richards, N Hudd, G Lee, A Waite
Reps: B Toms, A Rees, L Bridges, B Thompson, C Hudd, D McGuigan, L Crane, A Bramwell
Merthyr: Matthew Jarvis; Kyle Evans, Kristian Phillips, Aron Pinches, Steff Andrews; Richard Powell, Rhys Downes; James Howe, Matt Dwyer, Joe Rees, Ben Sier, Craig Locke (captain), Nathan White, Osian Davies, Phil Rees
Reps: Louis Jones, Rhys James, Richard Wilkes, Szabolcs Pocskai, Ed Siggery, Justin James, Gareth Davies, Gavin Dacey
Pontypridd v Newport
Pontypridd: Lloyd Rowlands; Alex Webber, Gary Williams, Dafydd Lockyer (captain), Geraint Walsh; Diggy Bird, Wayne Evans; Chris Phillips, Huw Dowden, Jon Elley, Shay Smallman, Chris Dicomidis, Sean Moore, Rhys Shellard, Morgan Sieniawski
Reps: Jamie Hill, Jordan Rees, Joseph Williams, Joe Page, Ross Morgan, Hemi Barnes, Huw Owen, Joe Popple.
Newport: Geraint O’Driscoll; Corey Howells, Adam Sabri, Chay Smith, Haydn Palmer; Ryan James, Matt O’Brien; Nicky Boyce, Evan Whitson, Tom Piper, Rhys Cresswell, Joe Bartlett, Morgan Burgess, Josh Reid
Reps: Matt Prosser, Henry Palmer, Garin Harris, Gavin Bilton, Alex Everett, Ryan Bates, Haydn Simons, Tom Pascoe
