EBBW VALE 14-59 CARDIFF
Cardiff head coach Dan Fish hailed his side after they made it four wins from four in Super Rygbi Cymru and exacted some revenge on Ebbw Vale in the process.
A year on from a 60-20 mauling by The Steelmen at Eugene Cross Park that left them licking their wounds, the Blue & Blacks returned to the scene of that pain to inflict a thumping of their own.
Cardiff ran in nine tries, with seven of those coming after the break. Full back Matty Young and wing Dewi Cross grabbed two apiece and there were also tries from Alun Rees, Tom Cottle, Joe Cowell, Sion Davies and Joe Goodchild as Cardiff notched a first win at Ebbw in SRC.
“I was very pleased with the performance. Physically we more than matched them and in the second half we took the chances we created,” said Fish.
“We put Ebbw under a lot of pressure in the second half and managed to come away with some good scores. I was really pleased that we continued to play for the full 80 minutes.”
Fish had stressed the importance of matching Ebbw physically from the start – as well as keeping their discipline – but was confident they could inflict some damage if they got those elements right.
They cut loose in the second half, but the first 40 had been more of a tighter affair, with the visitors taking a narrow 12-7 lead into the break. The Blue & Blacks hit the front 13 minutes in when hooker Rees crashed over following a catch and drive move, with Lloyd Lucas adding extras.
They went further in front just before the half-hour mark when Young broke away to score their second try, which this time went unconverted. Ebbw finally got on the scoreboard, responding through centre Dom Franchi on the stroke of half time, with Kai Kinsey converting, while Cardiff’s Cross was shown a yellow carded, to leave the contest well poised at the break.
Despite starting the second half a man down, Cardiff then restored their two-score advantage straight after the re-start when second row Cottle seized on the ball after a charge down to regather and score a try which Lucas improved.
It wasn’t long though before Ebbw were up the other end and going over for their second try of the match, scored by flanker Joe Rees-Weldon and converted by Kinsey.
But within two minutes, momentum was handed straight back to Cardiff, with Young showing some neat footwork before dotting down for his second and Cardiff’s fourth try to secure their first bonus point. Lucas converted.
Cardiff continued to put pressure on the hosts inside their own 22 and they were rewarded with try number five on 57 minutes, scored by replacement front-rower Cowell. Lucas’ conversion extended Cardiff’s lead to 33-14.
Now firmly in the ascendancy, the visitors were starting to move the ball with purpose and, after it was spread out wide, Cross added another try six minutes later, with Lucas again converting.
And there was no let up from Cardiff. Scrum half Davies came off the bench to add try number seven on 71 minutes, with this time Ben Coomer adding the extras. Moments later Coomer’s kick in behind sent Cross in to score another try, which Coomer again improved.
The final say went to wing Goodchild, also on as a replacement, who took Young’s offload before adding another Cardiff try with just a minute left on the clock.
Scorers: Ebbw Vale: Tries: D Franchi, J Rees-Weldon; Cons: K Kinsey 2. Cardiff: Tries: M Young 2, D Cross 2, A Rees, T Cottle, J Cowell, S Davies, J Goodchild; Cons: L Lucas 5, B Coomer 2