CROSS Keys cruised into the quarter-finals of the Swalec Cup by overwhelming the giant-killers of the first round RGC 1404 at Colwyn Bay..

The home crowd were pumped up for the occasion with the stadium announcer more than helping the enthusiasm along, but it was Keys who took first blood after attacking from the off.

Saipolu Tapaatoutai Uhi almost went under the sticks on seven minutes, twisting and turning through the RGC defence, but he was stopped at the death on the five metre line.

However an infringement a minute later gave Keys the chance to kick a penalty, one they didn’t waste as Ethan Davies slotted home to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.

Handling errors and poor passing were letting both teams down. Following that initial penalty, a lot of the first half turned into a midfield battle with errors aplenty. Where one side would make an error, the other couldn’t capitalise on it.

The hosts scored the first try, just after the half hour when RGC’s Harri Evans made a clean break, off-loaded to Tom Blackwell who ran the ball home and the stadium erupted. James Lang converted.

However Keys went into the break with a 13-7 lead after being awarded a penalty try which Davies easily converted before adding a second penalty just before the break, this one from the half-way line.

The Premiership side showed their dominance after the interval. Davies further extended their lead seven minutes into the second half with another three pointer before try machine Nathan Trowbridge put more of a gap between the sides as he sprinted down the wing, Davies again adding the extras.

And RGC weren’t going to recover from Keys’ next score, on the hour after Leon Andrews broke through for an unconverted try.

Jack Condy added another try on 67 minutes, again converted by Davies and after RGC’s Kelvin Davies was sinbinned with seven minutes to go, Keys took full advantage as Scott Matthews scored another, converted again by Davies.

However, despite being down to 14 men, RGC got another back, much to the delight of the home crowd when Tarris Karaitiana forced his way over with Lang converting.

But Keys had the last say in the final play of the game as Elliot Jones scored in the corner.

RGC1404: Afon Bagshaw; James Grundy, Harri Evans (Lewis Barker 61), Tiaan Loots (Richard Hopkins 40), Thomas Blackwell; James Lang, Josh Leach (Cameron Davies 58); Joe Simpson (James Jones 40), Evan Yardley (Andy Baston 64), Tom Hughes (Joe Simpson 64), Maredydd Francis, Bryn Williams (Shaun O'Rourke 55), Huw Worthington, Will Bryan (Tallis Karaitiana 40), Kelvin Davies (C).

Tries: Blackwell (31), Karaitiana (79) Cons: Lang (32, 79)

CROSS KEYS: Ryan Lee; Saipolu Tapaatoutai Uhi (Elliott Jones 58), Leon Andrews (C) (Jonathan Howard 59), Phil Williams, Nathan Trowbridge; Ethan Davies, James Leadbeater (Nathan Williams 58); Richard Cornock (Gwesyn Price-Jones 75), Darren Hughes (Craig Gould 60), Anthony Lott (Scott Andrews 54), Danny Hodge, Simon Williams (Ryan James 65), Tom Lampard (Jack Condy 54), Scott Matthews, Adam Powell.

Tries: Penalty Try (39), Trowbridge (53), Andrews (60), Condy (67), Matthews (74), Jones (80) Cons: Davies (39, 54, 67, 74) Pens: Davies (9, 40, 47)

Half-time: 7-13

Attendance: 1,500 (est)

Referee: Leighton Hodges