Cardiff Blues South bounced back from last weeks defeat at the Scarlets by beating the Dragons at a wet and windy Pontypool Park.
The first half was punctuated with errors and the whistle of the referee. Ellis Wyn Benham tried on several occasions to split the defence but the Dragons snuffed out his bursts down the wing. South outside half Callum Sheedy was creating a lot of chances for the Blues but the last pass was failing to find its target in the wet conditions. One chip and chase nearly resulted in a try but the dead ball line won the race.
The opening try of the game came in the twentieth minute. Matthew Marley who was outstanding in the loose, pounced on a Dragons mistake near their own line and set up a ruck from which Christopher Brace was able to score unopposed under the posts. Sheedy converted.
The Dragons though were creating their own chances, Dan Dunmore’s high kick and chase only bouncing out of play as he went to collect it. Just before the break Sheedy added a long-range penalty to extend the lead
Half Time: Dragons 0 Blues South 10
The second half saw the Dragons come out breathing fire. Their play was much improved from the first half as they spun the ball wide in an effort to get into the game. The next try though went to the Blues as one of those attacks broke down. Ellis Wyn Benham pounced of the loose ball and ran half the length of the field to score. Sheedy again was successful with the conversion.
From then on the game belonged to he Dragons. They got on the scoreboard with a try from replacement Keegan Bale who was on the end of a series of drive from the home forwards. Sheedy calmed the South nerves with another penalty but the Dragons had the last word as Matthew Williams scored in the corner, Scott Turner added the difficult conversion.
After the game Backs Coach Scott Sneddon said It’s building back in the right direction, we have had a couple of poor games including the defeat against the Scarlets and it was important that we picked ourselves back up and look towards the next challenge’
Next up for the South is a home semi final against the Blues North next Wednesday at Leckwith. The other semi- final sees the Scarlets take on the Ospreys.
Scorers
Blues South
Tries: Wyn Benham, Brace
Conversions: Sheedy 2
Penalties: Sheedy 2
Dragons
Tries: Williams, Bale
Conversions: Turner