Cross Keys 20 Cardiff 21

PLUCKY losers. A tag that Cross Keys hate, but one that was once again appropriate against a strong Cardiff side at Pandy Park.

Pontypridd coach Dale McIntosh lauded Keys after their performance on opening day, and Blue and Blacks boss Richard Hodges was just as loud in his praise on Saturday.

But they are words that the Pandy Park outfit hate to hear – they want to listen to frustration from beaten coaches rather than congratulations about the strides they are making.

The hosts were terrific for much of the game, especially up front, but they were left to rue a mad ten minutes before the break.

A 6-5 Keys lead became an 18-6 Cardiff one and it could have been worse as tackles were missed and mistakes were made. But the home side came out firing in the second half and it took a Gareth Davies penalty on 67 minutes for the Blue and Blacks to sneak it.

“We were hanging on in there at half-time,” admitted Keys head coach Greg Woods. “The coaching team asked for a reaction, and boy, did we get one. It was like a scene from Casualty in there at the break but they dug deep and played for the shirt, so that was massively pleasing. Nobody likes losing but it was great to see the way the boys came back when they looked to be down and out.”

It was a brutal game with a ferocious battle at the breakdown, but it was the Keys front row that stood out. Not many sides will relish heading to Pandy Park if Richard Cornock, Richard Emms and Marc Jones are in as grisly a mood... and it wasn’t even a horrible wet afternoon.

Yet for all their good work Keys only managed a losing bonus point, and they will look at what they did wrong rather than point the finger at the officials for bottling a major decision.

Cardiff centre Darren Ryan was lucky that it was a yellow card waved at him by referee Simon Harris instead of a red one for flooring opposite number Lee Thorne with a left hook.

There is nothing Keys can do about that decision now, but they can do something about giving away soft penalties and taking poor options in defence.

It was that combination that lost them the initiative after a good start to the first half, and helped Cardiff on their way to their dominant lead.

The Blue and Blacks crossed out wide through Matthew John after a smart break by fly-half Gareth Davies and then made the most of a poor clearance to counter-attack their way under the sticks, flanker Rhys Shellard the man who touched down.

Keys had been their own worst enemy at the end of the first 40 minutes and it was their sloppiness from the restart after Ryan’s misdemeanour that got Cardiff off the hook – the numbers were levelled up when the visitors stole possession and Cornock offended at the breakdown.

But Keys then turned from a tired, ragged outfit into a hungry and angry one. They made light of going up the slope and replacement fly-half Gareth David secured the reward for their dominance with three penalties.

It got even better on 62 minutes when a good lineout take by Rhys Peebles provided quick ball and centre Leon Andrews’ incision led to wing Nathan Trowbridge going over in the left corner.

Davies wrestled the lead back for Cardiff, who also had Craig Everett and Shellard sin-binned, but it was Keys that finished on the front foot.

They pummelled the Cardiff line but the frustration was complete when Mr Harris penalised Keys’ dominant scrum off their own put-in at the death.

Brave and gutsy yet again, and don’t Keys just hate it?

Cross Keys: L Andrews, N Trowbridge, N Williams, L Thorne (G David 40), M John-stone, S Jones (R Lee 40), R James, R Cornock (J Price 74), R Emms, M Jones, D Hodge, T Lampard (J Price 38-40), M Pop-ham (R Peebles 55), R Nash (captain), J Groves. Scorers: try – N Trowbridge; penalties – S Jones (2); G David (3).

Cardiff: S Sneddon, S Taylor, J Lewis, D Ryan, M John (J Loxton 60), G Davies, T Slater (R Dyer 67), I George (N Trevett 49), R James (B Phillips 49), K Gay (J Corsi 49), C Everett (C Bundy 70), G Harrington (captain), S Grainger, R Shellard, J Ringer (D Godfrey 54). Scorers: tries – M John, R Shellard; conversion – G Davies; penalties – G Davies (3).

Referee: Simon Harris (WRU).

Argus star men: The Cross Keys front row of Cornock, Emms and Jones.