EBBW Vale swept the Ravens aside in a one-sided second half in which the home side crossed for four tries to grab a bonus point win, writes Geoff Champion.

Vale outside half Josh Lewis stole the show kicking two first half penalty goals, scoring his team’s second touchdown 13 minutes after the restart and then laying on another for wing Jared Rosser after 58 minutes. He also kicked three conversions for a personal tally of 17 points. Replacement backrow man Dawid Rubasniak also crossed the line.

Flanker Rhys Clarke was outstanding in a workmanlike home pack but frustration crept in as too many handling errors were made.

The Ravens tried hard but added to their problems by having four players sent to the sin bin – full back Marc Bennett, centre Jamie Murphy, and props Nicky Boyce and Lewis Francis. The nearest they came to scoring was in the 13 minute but lock Jonny Kenny could not hold on to an inside pass with the try line beckoning.

Principality champions Ebbw Vale were hoping for a repeat of their good form after beating Newport 33-17 which followed their disappointing opener at Llanelli when they went down 24-22.

The Ravens had also had a mixed start to the season losing to newly-promoted RGC 1404 at the Brewery Field, beating visitors Cross Keys and then losing narrowly against Cardiff at the Arms Park.

In last season’s fixtures Ebbw Vale recorded the “double” over Bridgend Ravens with a 20-8 away victory followed by a 40-30 triumph at Eugene Cross Park.

Vale took the lead in the ninth minute when the visitors fell offside inside their 22 and Lewis was on target with a short-range penalty goal. Kenny and Rosser came close to grabbing tries for the visitors and the home side respectively after a series of lively attacks. Then, midway through the half, Lewis increased Vale’s lead with another penalty goal from in front of the posts.

Bridgend were showing plenty of guile in the back division but they suffered a setback on the half hour when Scrivens failed with a penalty attempt from 30 metres. Then they had the misfortune to lose big lock Jack Pope who was stretchered from the field after receiving lengthy treatment to be replaced by Kyle Evans. To add to their woes, full back Marc Bennett was sent to the sin bin for an illegal tackle and they must have been relieved to reach the interval still just trailing 6-0.

But there was no stopping Vale in the second half.

Ebbw Vale: D Haymond, C Levesley, N Preece (W Talbot-Davies 66), D Langdon, J Rosser; J Lewis, C Thomas (B Ellis 49); I George (R Jones 55), J Franchi (M Williams 55), R Sevenoaks (G Robinson 55), D Hudd, capt, J Jacas (A Sweet 49), R Clarke, R Kynes (D Rubasniak 63) and R Pitman.

Scorers: Tries - R Pitman, J Lewis, J Rosser, D Runasniak; Cons – J Lewis (3); Pens – J Lewis (2)

Bridgend Ravens: M Bennett; R Griffiths (R Davies 60), R Evans (J Gatt 60), J Murphy, T O’Flaherty; J Scrivens, C Williams; N Boyce (O Evans 57), J Liney (D Rogers 50), C Lewis (L Francis 65), J Kenny, J Pope (K Evans 37), Z O’Driscoll, capt. (J Howard 65), A O’Driscoll and A Evans.

Referee: Mr Gareth Newman (WRU)

Star man: Josh Lewis