Cardiff came away with two points from the Wern on Saturday, but know it should have been much more.
A large crowd, including First Minister Mark Drakeford. Turned up to watch the game played in bright sunshine. And it was the home side who made the most of the conditions with a try with 2 minutes. A break straight up the middle from a ruck was stopped short but the ball was moved wide for Harley Thompson to score. Cardiff’s response was immediate. From the restart that ball was regathered and moved form one side of the pitch to the other before Merthyr ran out of defenders and Sam Moore crossed, Jack Maynard added the extras.
Merthyr were next on the board as Gareth Thompson charged down a clearance and managed to regather and score a try he converted. But the Blue & Blacks came straight back. A burst by Harri Millard was carried on into the Ironmen’s twenty-two before the ball came to Ioan Evans who cruised over. Maynard converted and it was all square again.
There was a short hold up while the pitch was cleaned following an incident before the home side seemed to take a strangle hold on the game . Some slack tackling lead to a tries for Callum Bradbury and Sam Jones, both converted by Thompson. That bonus point try left the home side 28-12 up at half time.
Cardiff came out firing in the second half but it took 10m minutes for them to find the next score. Ioan Evans again the scorer as a break by Garyn Smith had got Cardiff in behind the Merthyr defence. Maynard converted and the Blue & Blacks should have really been level from the kick off. Dan Fish saw space and Evans went up the touchline linking up with Harri Millard. With support arriving the pass went behind the runners and Merthyr were able to clear.
There then followed a period on kick tennis that seemed to go on for ever before Cardiff sent the ball into touch to bring it to an end. With ten minutes left Thompson pushed the Ironmen three points further ahead with a simple penalty. But Cardiff were to have one final chance as they camped on the home line, but they could not get the ball over the line as Merthyr held on for a 31-26 win.