25 Apr BRIDGEND 33-30 SWANSEA

Bridgend Ravens booked their place in the quarter finals of the Super Rygbi Cymru playoffs with a dramatic victory over Swansea in the Wildcard Playoff at the Dunraven Brewery Field on Thursday evening.

Baldwin’s men eventually despatched the league’s basement side, who put up a spirited fight on the evening and will be wondering how they left without the win having surrendered a sixteen point advantage.

The game was slow to get started and after Matthew Aubrey saw a try ruled out by the TMO for a forward pass, Josh Phillips kicked the first points of the tie after 24 minutes to give Swansea the lead.

The Ravens battled back and after a nice break by Lewis Jones, Chris Williams cut a nice line to run in under the posts. Ben Burnell converted.

Bridgend had all the momentum but as the half drew to a close, Jake Thomas deliberately knocked on to stop a sweeping Swansea move and was yellow carded by referee Rhys Jones. The resulting maul saw hooker Will Austin power over for a try converted by Phillips

Swansea weren’t done yet and Phillips was able to add another three points after Ben Burnell was adjudged to have held onto the ball too long following the tackle.

HT: Bridgend 7-13 Swansea

Swansea struck early in the second half to compound Bridgend’s misery. Number 8 Cai Davies charged through a gap in the home side’s midfield for a converted score.

The seesaw game took another twist as Chris Williams bagged his second of the evening, superbly converted by replacement Luke Price.

Josh Phillips continued his fine form off the tee shortly after to extend Swansea’s advantage to nine points.

It seemed the game was over five minutes later. A powerful forward drive was worked wide for wing Tom Edwards to cross for Swansea’s third try. Phillips nailed a touchline conversion and enjoyed some banter with the home faithful in the process.

Bridgend never gave up, and just like the Thursday previous they defied the odds to come back and win. The Ravens forward dominance came to the fore as Corey Lewis scored to reduce the deficit with just over ten minutes remaining.

Edd Howley’s neat break set Ben Burnell in for a try which Price converted an all of a sudden, Bridgend were within a converted score.

With time running out, that score duly came as Corey Lewis broke off from a 15 man driving maul to score. Price kicked the extras and Swansea had it all to do.

Some resolute Bridgend defence meant that was never really a possibility, although visiting full back Harri Houston tried all in his power to summon a late game winner. His wild pass, going straight into touch was the final act of the game with Rhys Jones blowing for full time straight after.

The Ravens face a daunting quarter final tie at the Arms Park against Cardiff next Saturday, 3rd May (2:30pm).