It looks as though new head coach Justin Burnell has got to grips with what is needed to turn Ponty back into a dominant force and skipper Dafydd Lockyer, who scored one of his side’s four tries at the Bridge Field, is happy with the progress this season.
“We are in a really good place at the moment. We have already beaten the champions, Merthyr, and now toppled our league leaders Bedwas,” said the veteran centre, currently enjoying a testimonial season at the Sardis Road club.
“We are moving in the right direction after a couple of seasons in which we have struggled by our own high standards. We are fitter than we have been in the past, and are blowing teams away in the second half, and Justin has really freshened things up.
“He has brought in some new faces from local clubs and our strength in depth has improved. In the last few years, after losing a lot of players to other clubs, we were still able to put out a competitive 1st XV, but didn’t have a strong enough bench to compete at the highest level.
“Now we are getting back to that level and we are side that is in good form and looking forward to the second half of the campaign.”
Lloyd Rowlands ran in two of the tries in the bonus point win and Lockyer and Alex Webber getting the others. Diggy Bird kicked 15 points and Ceri Sweeney added a final conversion.
Ebbw Vale moved off the bottom of the table with their first home win of the season as they completed the double over Bargoed with a hard-fought 19-14 victory at Eugene Cross Park. Outside half Lewis Dennett kicked three penalties, Dan Hammond got another and there was a penalty try as they overcame an 11-6 interval deficit.
Bargoed picked up a losing bonus point thanks to a try by replacement hooker Geraint Clarke and three penalties from Matthew Lewis (2) and Iain Smerdon.
Merthyr completed the double over Cross Keys with a five try triumph that included two from former Ospreys and Scarlets wing Kristina Phillips. Keys scored three tries of their own, but dropped to the bottom of the table with their sixth defeat in eight games.
