Cross Keys opened the scoring with a close-range penalty by Stefan Jones, but the North Wales centres started to find some inroads with some quick passes, and strong rucking from the home teams forwards gave them territory and possession.
North Wales levelled when Conner Braid landed a penalty, but scrum half Sean White was sin-binned and the one-man advantage helped Cross Keys when hooker Gary Horrigan drove over in the corner.
A good spell of driving rugby from North Wales edged them closer to the try line and centre Jack Moorhouse found a gap and broke through the Keys backline but was chased down with a tackle.
A superb start to the second half saw Arwel Lloyd run over for a try after great work that involved quick hands, power and running to bring North Wales level.
The forwards began to see more of the ball, but the final pass and decision-making meant that NorthWales were unable to capitalise on the possession.
The referee awarded a penalty try to Keys after the scrum came up, which Jones converted, before Moorhouse was held up just short of the Keys try-line.
The clinching score came when Braid could not hold a pass and Jones took advantage to run in under the posts to score a try which he also converted to finish it off.
After the match Head Coach and former Wales full back Clive Griffiths commented: “To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. We just didn’t manage the game and were looking good at 8-all. We worked the try well with passing, a switch and offloads but we didn’t take the game by the scruff of the neck after that.
“We have been taught a harsh lesson today, as we tried to play too much rugby at times but we move forward to next week at Bedwas now. This is our second game as a new team so we will improve as a group.”
