CROSS Keys’ young side lost for the fourth time in five games this season when they went down to Cardiff at the Arms Park, writes Ian Golden.

Keys coped well with their more experienced opponents for the first 40 minutes and even went into the break a point ahead, but for 37 minutes after the interval it was one-way traffic as the men from the capital took complete control.

They missed a valuable chance to take the lead on three minutes. After being awarded a penalty in front of the sticks, Josh Prosser kicked wide and a morale boosting advantage was lost.

Cardiff made them pay as Will Rees-Hole crossed for the opening try with Ben Thomas converting.

Prosser missed a long rage penalty kick but Keys did level the scores on 12 minutes, after a delay due to a Tom Lampard ankle injury, the lock not returning to the field. From a scrum, Barney Nightingale scored under the sticks and Prosser easily converted.

A Thomas penalty on 23 minutes gave Cardiff made it 10-7 but there was hope for Keys when Robert Jones scored under the posts and Josh Prosser converted to give them the lead back again.

However a Ben Thomas penalty for Cardiff gave the home side the boost that they needed for the second half.

The tries flowed after the break making it a disappointing half for the men from Gwent.

After just 90 seconds, Lewis Jones scored Cardiff’s next try for them to regain the lead and give them full control for the rest of the game. Thomas converted.

Owen Lane then found a gap down the wing for an unconverted try before Rees-Hole was given too much time by Keys to place the ball under the sticks. Replacement Gareth Thompson converted that one.

Tries from James Sheekey and Rees-Hole, his hat-trick that was converted by Thompson, completed Cardiff’s scoring with a little under 10 minutes to go, but in the final stages, Keys showed what they could do as they scored with a nice bit of skill. Nathan Trowbridge picked up an excellent cross-field to score in the corner.

Cross Keys: L Andrews (N Trowbridge 62); M Powell (R Pritchard 62), L Barnett, B Nightingale, J Goodchild, J Prosser, J Leadbeater (P Williams 61); C Hewlett (L Smout 46), R Jones (W Griffiths 46), R Cornock (G Carpenter 59), T Lampard (M George 11), J Skinner, L Davies, J Thomas, A Powell.

Scores: Cardiff: Tries: Will Rees-Hole 6, 53, 70, Lewis Jones 42, Owen Lane 45, James Sheekey 61 Conversions: Ben Thomas 7, 43, 54, Gareth Thompson 62, 70. Penalties: Thomas 23, 40

Cross Keys: Tries: Barney Nightingale 12, Robert Jones 38, Nathan Trowbridge 78. Conversions: Josh Prosser 12, 38

Referee: Gareth John (WRU)

Cross Keys star man: Barney Nightingale