Cardiff won a scrappy game with Ebbw Vale at the Arms Park on Saturday.
Playing against the strong wind in the first half the Blue & Blacks were very scrappy and made plenty of mistakes. That allowed the Steelmen the ball in the Blue & Blacks half. And that scrappiness led to a series of kickable penalties> Evan Lloyd – who was later named man of the match – was wide with his first attempt, his second and third though put Ebbw 6-0 up.
It took Cardiff until the 35th minute to get the scoreboard moving. A couple of scrum penalties gave them field position, and when the maul in the twenty-two was stopped the ball was moved wide where an overlap had been created. Ben Burnell’s long pass giving Harrison James enough room to collect, step inside and score. Burnell’s conversion was aided by the wind to put Cardiff ahead. They weren’t ahead for long as Lloyd added his third penalty to send Ebbw in 9-7 up at half time.
Cardiff must have had a severe talking to at half time as they came out firing to start the second half. They we rewarded almost immediately as they regain the ball from the kick off. The two props carried the ball up the middle before Burnell release Joe Goodchild. The centre looked certain to score but was hauled down inches short. Jamie Hill though was on hand to pick up and dive over.
Ebbw were back on level terms a few minutes later as Lloyd landed penalty number four. The game though went back to the scrappiness of the first half Cardiff did have chances but with the lineout mis-firing and hands letting them down they were not able to capitalise on the possession they had.
The visitors lineout didn’t mis-fire though when they gained a five metre lineout. Dave Whitting ploughing over, Lloyd converting. Cardiff responded in kind with 13 minutes left, this time the five metre lineout worked as planned and Joey Tomlinson going over after Teddy Williams’ catch. The conversion was wide though leaving Ebbw two points ahead.
And they had a chance to seal the win with five minutes left, another lineout close to the line started to move ominously, but it went to ground and Cardiff were able to clear. A couple of penalties later and the Blue & Blacks were in the visitors half. At the next lineout Ebbw were penalised again, This time it was in range and Burnell put Cardiff a point ahead with a minute left. Ebbw though regained the kick-off and went through several phases before earning a penalty that was nudged into the Cardiff twenty-two. The maul was stopped and when the ruck was formed Nathan Hudd got his hands on the ball and ripped it away allowing Cardiff to clear and the referee to blow for no side.