By Zippy
October 15 2006

A review of the action in the Principality Welsh Premiership from Saturday 14th October. Bridgend bounced back from last weeks drubbing to beat Neath. Ponty won at home to Bedwas, for details read on.

Bridgend 18 Neath 13

Wales on Sunday

BRIDGEND bounced back from a heavy defeat at Llanelli the week before to deservedly take the scalp of reigning champions Neath.

The only time the off-colour Blacks suggested they were capable of winning was midway through the second half when 13-8 ahead.

But a 57th-minute try from powerful centre Chris Tossell, goaled by full-back Gareth David, took the Ravens back in front - and they simply never looked back.

Having suffering a 64-22 drubbing at Llanelli - albeit with a man short for three-quarters of the game - acting captain and flanker Marvin Thomas rallied his troops in dramatic fashion.

The home forwards, with locks Paul Clapham and Mike Powell leading from the front, disrupted the Neath lineout, and managed to pinch a vital tight-head late on.

"After losing heavily at Llanelli, the attitude of the players during training was excellent, resulting in our best performance of the season," said Bridgend director of rugby Colin Hillman.

He added: "Our victory proved that rugby isn't all about technicalities and as nothing changed against Neath, it was team spirit that pulled us through."

After Bridgend full-back Gareth David and Neath centre Aled Bevan traded penalties midway through the first half, a debut try from wing Paul Morgan sent the Ravens on their way.

Morgan, the former Aberavon utility back who went on to play for Maesteg and Celtic Crusaders Rugby League, showed good pace in latching on to a wayward pass in the 35th minute.

The Porthcawl fitness instructor outpaced the cover on a 35-metre race to the try-line to supply Bridgend with an 8-3 interval lead.

The Blacks were more fired up on the restart, and wing Kevin James shot over for a 44th-minute try that centre Bevan goaled.

Soon after Bevan slotted over a penalty, and another score at this point would have probably extinguished Bridgend hopes.

But the bounce favoured the Ravens in the 57th minute, and centre Tossell - who later failed to deliver a try-scoring pass - went on to get the pivotal touchdown.

Full-back David added the extras from the touchline, and he went on to complete the scoring on the strength of a 65th minute penalty.

Neath attempted to rally during the closing stages but there was little in the way of conviction attached to it, and they suffered only a sixth loss in 33 league meetings between the clubs dating back to 1990.

Having lost first time out at Glamorgan Wanderers, the champions have steadily improved but as coach Rowland Phillips pointed out, this was a step backwards.

He said: "You know it isn't going to be your day when constant infringements at rucks go unpunished.

"But in fairness to Bridgend they were fired up after the Llanelli defeat, and there were a lot of big factors missing in our display.

"On the day we failed to match Bridgend's intensity, forcing us to play catch-up for most of the game, and for us the game became increasingly frustrating."

Bridgend	18 - 13 (8 - 3)	Neath
Tries: P Morgan, C Tossell		Tries: K James
Pens: G David 2		Pens: A Bevan 2
Cons: G David		Cons: A Bevan

Pontypridd 24 Bedwas 10

By www.PontypriddRFC.co.uk - Rygbi Pontypridd - Official Website / Y Wefan Swyddogol - The Valleys' Premier Team.

To use the old cliché, this was a ‘must-win’ game for Pontypridd after the debacle at Cross Keys. We made eight changes for the match (one positional), many of which were forced on us by a growing injury list. The weather conditions were ideal, and the usual big Ponty crowd turned up to watch the proceedings. The bad news was that influential scrum half Gareth Jones had failed a late fitness test, and was unable to take to the field.

The first fifteen minutes saw Bedwas launch attack after attack, and only good defence kept them out on a number of occasions. Although we managed a few forays into their half, the visitors were definitely on top. Then a good break down the left hand side by Kristian Baller, followed by an intelligent chip ahead, saw the Bedwas full back forced to ground the ball behind his own line. From the resulting five-yard scrum we worked the ball to Dafydd Lockyer moving at speed, and it was 5-0 to us. Neil Burnett kicked the conversion, to make it 7-0.

Bedwas were soon an the attack again, and the first quarter ended with an easy penalty for Shaun Thomas to bring the score to 7-3. However, Ponty were playing with more confidence now, and a good kick by Neil Burnett saw Gareth John secure the ball to put Lawrence Price over for our second try. Neil kicked a superb conversion to put us 14-3 up after twenty-five minutes.

The second quarter of the game was all Pontypridd, and we could have got another two tries but for stubborn defence by Bedwas. All we had to show for our efforts was a penalty for Neil Burnett to make it 17-3. The first half ended with Ponty spurning the chance of an easy three points to go for the lineout and possible try, but we failed to drive the ball over their line and then gave away a penalty to end the half.

In the second half Pontypridd kept up the pressure, but some good moves came to nothing. Then we worked the ball down the right hand side, with Lawrence Price and Kristian Baller figuring in the move. Galloping up on the right wing was lock Damien Welch, who took a good pass to cross wide out and trot around towards the posts to give Neil Burnett an easy conversion. So, it was 24-3 after fifty minutes, and a big win looked on the cards.

Unfortunately, Ponty then went off the boil and surrendered the next thirty minutes to Bedwas. They got a try by Jon Welch on the hour, converted by Shaun Thomas, and it was 24-10. Another try by the visitors looked likely, and had they scored then the game might have slipped away from us. However, good defence by Pontypridd kept them out, and a couple of good runs by Dafydd Lockyer almost brought more points for us.

So, it ended with the score still at 24-10, and with a feeling among Ponty supporters that it ought to have been more. Still, our lineout went well thanks to Damien Welch and Adam Powell, our scrum looked solid throughout, the return of Nathan Strong made a big difference, and Tu Tamarua worked like a demon in the loose.

Ryan Harries did well at the base of the scrum, and the big boot of Neil Burnett got us out of trouble on many occasions. Lawrence Price had a good game for the forty minutes that he was on the field, and Kristian Baller was a confident and speedy full back. Nobody had a bad game, and there were a few contenders for man-of-the-match award. It went to Damien Welch, and was well earned.

Pontypridd	24 - 10	Bedwas
Tries: D Lockyear, L Price, D Welch		Tries: J Welch
Pens: N Burnett		Pens: S Thomas
Cons: N Burnett 3		Cons: S Thomas

Welsh Premiership table

14 October 2006   Team P W D L F A PTS 1 Newport 7 5 0 2 202 112 15 2 Neath 7 4 1 2 223 145 13 3 Ebbw Vale 7 4 1 2 135 128 13 4 Cardiff 7 4 0 3 196 171 12 5 Pontypridd 7 4 0 3 153 184 12 6 Aberavon 7 4 0 3 159 152 12 7 Llanelli 7 3 0 4 175 166 9 8 Cross Keys 7 3 0 4 167 160 9 9 Swansea 7 3 0 4 174 211 9 10 Bridgend 7 3 0 4 151 171 9 11 Llandovery 7 3 0 4 141 197 9 12 Maesteg 7 3 0 4 154 156 9 13 Bedwas 7 3 0 4 116 149 9 14 Glamorgan Wanderers 7 2 0 5 148 192 6