Four tries from driving line outs did the trick in the end for The Steelmen as hooker and skipper Joe Franchi picked up a hat-trick and international referee Adam Jones awarded a penalty try from another major drive to keep Jason Strange’s side in second place in Super Rygbi Cymru.
“Our discipline in the first half caused us some problems but the effort and composure the players showed throughout the game was excellent. They looked like a team that has been together for a while,” said Ebbw head coach Strange.
“They didn’t panic and that’s the sign of a good team. We had to tighten things up in the second half with 14 players and we’re pleased to get the six points – it was a job well done.
“We’ve won five of our first six games and performed pretty well. The biggest strength this team has is they’ve now played 50 or more games together. We all know that good teams come off the back of playing lots of games together.”
Evan Lloyd opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a penalty to edge Ebbw ahead and he did the same thing with the last kick of the half to make it 13-11 to the visitors at the break.
Bridgend had the satisfaction of scoring the first try of the game moments after Dom Franchi picked up a yellow for a tackle off the ball. McCauley Rowley finished off a right to left back line move with a try in the corner.
The home side went down to 14 men just after the half-hour mark when prop Liam Tobias was adjudged to have taken down a driving maul. Lloyd popped the ball into touch and Joe Franchi came up with the ball after notching his first try of the day from a successful line-out drive.
Lloyd added the extras to take the visitors back into the lead before two Burnell penalties made it 11-10 to the home side. The second came after Ebbw No 8 Ryan Jenkins was dismissed by Jones from a tip tackle in his 22 on Jordan Collier.
But just as it looked as though the Ravens were going to go into the break with their noses in front they conceded a penalty at a line out on their 10 metre line and Lloyd was up to the task for Ebbw to take the lead again by a couple of points.
“Our biggest Achilles heel at the moment is our discipline and backing up penalty on penalty. We did that again today,” said a frustrated Bridgend head coach Scott Baldwin.
“We gave away high double figures and many of them were needless and came from calls outside our system. It’s a learning curve and we sensed it earlier in the week when the boys started to believe their own hype after a couple of wins.
“We were in a good position at half time, but we couldn’t get into the game after that.”
A charge from Harry Olding almost earned Bridgend a try at the start of the second half, but he was deemed to have been held up over the line. Then came the full-frontal assault from back-to back driving line outs from Ebbw.
The first ended up in a penalty try, and a yellow card for Bridgend lock Evan Hill and the second bagged Franchi his second try. The Ravens replied with a close-range effort of their own from replacement hooker Corey Lewis, before Hill picked up his second yellow for taking down another maul.
Hill could only watch in dismay as Lloyd kicked to touch, Ebbw put on the drive from the line out and Franchi completed his hat-trick.
Scorers: Bridgend: Tries: M Rowley, C Lewis; Cons: B Burnell; Pens: B Burnell 2. Ebbw Vale: Tries: J Franchi 3, Pen Try; Cons: E Lloyd 3; Pens: E Lloyd 2
