Gavin Dacey’s score almost on the final whistle saw the Sardis Road club come from behind to snatch a 27-23 win.
The two sides had been level for most of the match but when Lewis Williams put Bridgend into a three point lead with a superb long range penalty effort, the Ravens looked like claiming a famous scalp.
And although Dacey’s final effort settled the tie in favour of Pontypridd, McIntosh knows his side can perform at a much better level.
“We’re very lucky, we shouldn’t have won that game,” said the club’s former No. 8.
“In my eyes, a draw would probably have been right but because we set our standards so high, we should have lost that game.
“We played some dumb rugby. Our kicking game wasn’t as clever as it normally is, that put us into trouble and they box kicked well from the line-outs and the mauls – we made errors in that department.”
Pontypridd may be top of the table following consecutive home wins but McIntosh, who guided his side to a league and cup double last year, was far from happy after the final whistle blew.
He cited his team’s pack as one of the main reasons for their struggles.
“We’ve gone through the scrum, we’ve done one to ones, we’ve done this and done that but every single forward is accountable for that scrum,” he said.
“Our injury problems in the front row are biting us in the backside but you can’t make excuses because the four boys that are there are experienced players. It just puzzles me why they haven’t got the same edge as last year.
“There’s not a lot we can do as our other front row forwards are injured. But you don’t allow yourself to get dragged out into a car pack and get your head kicked in. Sooner or later you have to say ‘this is hurting me, I’m not taking it anymore.’”
James Howe, Huw Dowden and Keiron Jenkins started in the front row against Bridgend, Howe a new signing from Championship side Bargoed.
The game with the Ravens saw Bridgend win at least one scrum against the head and McIntosh knows his side must improve rapidly in that aspect.
He added: “We’ve got the same right to push as anyone else, why aren’t we doing it?
“It’s down to errors, it’s down to a poor scrum but also that edge we seem to be lacking at the moment compared to last year.
“I’m a realist and we’ve been lucky here. I wouldn’t say we were lucky against Bedwas as we played some really nice stuff and our shape was excellent. But we’ve been lucky here tonight and we have to understand this can’t continue.”
