A week after they secured a place in the semi-finals of the British & Irish Cup, Ponty marched into their 10th final with a 32-3 win over Aberavon at the Brewery Field. Three first-half tries earned them a 25-3 interval lead and they were never in trouble.
Chris Dicomidis ran in the first try and there was a brace for Geraint Walsh. Matthew Nuthall grabbed the other one and there were 12 points from the boot of Lewis Williams, while the only points for the Wizards came from the boot of Richard Thomas.
It was a much closer run affair at The Gnoll, where a fourth try with almost the last move of the match from James Garland brought the 2007 champions Llandovery back to within two points of Cross Keys.
Phil Day, Craig Woodall and Luke Lewis grabbed the other tries for the Drovers and Garland hoisted his match tally to 12 points with a penalty and two conversions. But they were always playing catch-up after Keys stretched clear in the first-half and established an 18-10 interval lead.
Wing James Cordy-Reden gave Keys a fantastic stat with a try within two minutes and further tries were provided by Leon Andrews and Elliot Jones. Dorian Jones kicked one conversion and crucially kicked four penalties.
It is one-all between the two teams in the Principality Premiership this season. Keys were 38-17 victors at Sardis Road on 3 December, while Ponty won 28-11 at Pandy Park on 21 September. But it was Keys who won the last time they met on the biggest rugby stage of all, 32-19 in the 2012 SWALEC Cup final.
That is Keys only cup final victory to date, while Ponty are the reigning champions and also won in 2011, 2006, 2002 and 1996.
