Bridgend seemed to have had the game won after an impressive first half, but Bedwas gave the Ravens a fright on Halloween with two unanswered scores to haul themselves back into it. The Bridgend defence, again much improved, held firm in the face of a Bedwas onslaught to claim another Principality Premiership victory.
The hosts notched two first half converted tries to stretch out to a 16 point halftime lead. An early opportunity for the Ravens followed a quick tap penalty from the lively Geraint Watkin. The scrum half linked well with fly half Joseph Scrivens as Bridgend made their way into the Bedwas 22. The Ravens spread the ball wide and in form fullback Marc Bennett went close but was eventually tackled into touch.
As Bedwas looked to string together a few phases, former Bridgend favourite Andrew Waite’s wide pass was snatched by Scrivens. The fly half showed he had enough pace to run in from 75 metres to dot down for the game’s first try. Scrivens converted his own score to hand the Ravens an eight point lead after 15 minutes.
The Ravens’ second try came as the clock ticked towards 40 minutes. Bedwas indiscipline handed Bridgend a penalty that they kicked to the corner deep in the visitors 22. A penalty won following the lineout, close to the try line saw the Ravens opt for the scrum, which was driven over the line by the powerful Bridgend pack. Ashton Evans dotted the ball down to increase the hosts advantage. Scrivens added his second conversion to stretch the Ravens lead to 16. Evans try was his fifth in four games and the young forward has been instrumental in the Ravens revival.
Bridgend started the second half hunting for further points without success. It was Bedwas that would claw their way back into the match as they eventually got on the scoreboard thanks to a try from full back Kurt Clabby. Richard Powell slotted the conversion to narrow the gap to eight.
A couple of minutes later Bedwas capitalised on a Bridgend mistake as a clearance was kicked directly to touch from outside of the 22. A neat lineout move saw the visitors make good ground. Robson Blake, on his Bedwas debut, managed to get over the line to narrow the Ravens lead to two. The missed conversion meant the hosts remained in front with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Bridgend tried to keep Bedwas deep in their own half with territorial kicking. The visitors continued to apply pressure, making every Bridgend player work hard in defence with the clock ticking towards 80 minutes.
The Bedwas fightback fell just short as the Ravens managed to hold on to their two point lead to claim their third consecutive victory, leapfrogging Carmarthen Quins in the table and pushing further ahead of basement side Neath.
And here is the Bedwas viewpoint, from Ian Lovell
A late rally by Bedwas earned a losing bonus point, which whilst most welcome doesn’t tell the story of an error strewn performance against a hardworking, well drilled Bridgend side who deserved the victory.
Bedwas started off brightly and showed some cohesiveness as they looked to get points to on the board but all too often they dropped the ball handing the impetus back to their hosts. Bridgend took full advantage and their dominance in the tight bought reward as Bedwas were frequently outmuscled into conceding penalties.
Bridgend took the lead after 12 minutes. A Bedwas raid deep in the home territory went badly wrong as a stray Andrew Waite pass was picked off by home fly half Joseph Scrivens who raced 80 metres to score under the posts, he had no difficulty adding the conversion.
Bedwas tried to get back into the game but the home defence was in no mood to yield and whatever Bedwas tried no points materialised as the dominant home pack snuffed out what little crumbs of hope Bedwas had.
It looked as though for all those errors that Bedwas could possibly turn around after the break just one score behind but the home side had different ideas and shortly before the break after keeping possession home lock forward Ashton Evans burrowed over from a scrum. Scrivens added the extras to put his side 16-0 up at the interval.
The second half saw Bedwas in a more determined mood and for the first 20 minutes they dominated possession and territory without quite threatening to break down the home defence. Having made a host of substitutions Bedwas’ patience was finally rewarded when full back Kurt Clabby found the space to dart over for a try, converted by Powell.
Less than five minutes later replacement Robson Blake forced his way for a try, Powell’s normally reliable radar was off beam as his kicked sailed across the face of the goal and what would have been an equalising kick squandered.
Bedwas were not finished but although chances to pinch the win were there passes did not go to hand and combined with a siege mentality of the home defence their tenacity earned them a deserved victory, their third on the bounce after a difficult start to the season.
Next Saturday (7th November) Bedwas host high flying Aberavon (kick off 2-30pm).
