EBBW Vale bounced back from their defeat at Aberavon with victory over Bargoed, but were made to work hard in an entertaining Principality Premiership encounter at Eugene Cross Park, writes Jay Bayford.

Bargoed came into the game on the back of a nine-game losing streak but proved tough to break down in a fiercely contested opening 10 minutes.

The Steelmen enjoyed possession but struggled to break through a resilient defence.

After containing the current champions, Bargoed found themselves on the attack, but it proved to be their downfall as a long ball out wide was intercepted by Chris Thomas who played in Chris Levesley and he ran clean through to crash over. Dai Langdon booted the conversion.

Ebbw Vale went in search of a quick second but play was briefly paused when Rory Pitman and Gavin McDonnell both needed treatment after picking up injuries before they were replaced in the 20th minute.

The break halted the hosts’ momentum and Bargoed took advantage with David Evans finishing off a fine passing move to go over in the corner, but they failed to draw level after missing the conversion.

Langdon increased the lead with a penalty before the break but James Hallett replied for the visitors five minutes into the second half to reduce the deficit to two points.

The hosts continued to enjoy the majority of possession but couldn’t add to their total as Bargoed managed to deal with every attack.

On the rare occasion they did find a way through, the hosts slipped or delivered a weak pass at the vital moment.

Ebbw Vale were growing increasingly frustrated as the game went on as they moved closer to a second try.

Bargoed offered little threat in the second half and after Rhys Verdy and Alex Herbert were both shown yellow cards in the final minutes, the hosts saw out the victory with their long-awaited second try, a penalty try, with Langdon adding the extras to wrap up the victory.

Ebbw Vale - Tries: C Levesley, penalty try; Cons: D Langdon (2); Pen: D Langdon

Bargoed – Try: D Evans; Pen: J Hallett