PONTYPRIDD edged a tight contest played in near monsoon conditions at Bridge Field, as Bedwas failed to make the most of the chances they created, writes Ian Lovell.

The Principality Premiership clash took time to come to life but a break by Ceri Sweeney put winger Lewis Williams through a huge gap in the Bedwas defence to open the scoring.

Former Wales fly-half Sweeney saw his conversion attempt fly wide of the posts.

Bedwas hit back straight from the restart after the visitors were adjudged to be offside in front of their posts.

Richard Powell calmly slotted the ball through the uprights to get the hosts on the scoreboard.

Both sides tried to play rugby but the conditions made life tricky and all either sides could muster was a penalty a piece for Sweeney and then Powell.

Bedwas back row James Benjamin made a great break but his pass to the supporting player failed to find the hands and what looked a certain try went begging.

The visitors extended their lead following a lineout deep in the Bedwas half, the ball finding its way to full-back Aled Summerhill and he dashed in for the try. Sweeney again missed the conversion.

The home side’s task became harder six minutes before the interval as lock Geraint Edmunds found himself in the sin bin for tripping an opponent.

From the ensuing penalty Pontypridd pushed for the line and captain Dafydd Lockyer came close to scoring before being dragged into touch.

Bedwas responded in the best possible way. The ball was moved across the line to centre Connor Edwards to crash over in the right-hand corner.

Powell expertly kicked the conversion with the last touch of the half to see the scores tied at 13-13 with 40 minutes to play.

At the start of the second half the unrelenting rain made conditions difficult and both sides struggled to maintain any cohesion as possession was frequently turned over.

Ponty finally broke the deadlock on the hour as Sweeney’s pinpoint cross-field kick was gratefully gathered by Alex Webber who ran through for a try. The conversion was missed.

Bedwas introduced a host of replacements to try and salvage the game but the Pontypridd defence stood up to defy them.

Late in the game, home captain Powell was sin-binned for backchat as his team set up a series of raids on the visitors’ defence.

Fortunately for Bedwas, Sweeney’s penalty, which would have seen his side’s lead grow to more than eight points and thus deprive the hosts a losing bonus point, went wide.

Deep into stoppage time Bedwas camped on the Pontypridd try line as the visitors adopted a siege mentality to repel everything their opponents threw at them.

The visiting defence conceded three penalties in quick succession close to the line and it was only after the third that the referee chose to bin a Pontypridd player.

It could be argued that this sanction should have been used sooner but, nevertheless, Bedwas couldn’t break through and Ponty held on to the delight of their travelling support.

Bedwas will look to regroup ahead of the trip to Newport on Sunday.