A GUTSY performance by Cross Keys saw them exorcise the demons of their 46-19 battering at Cardiff the week before and record a memorable triumph over high-flying Bedwas, writes Iwan Gabe Davies.

Their Gwent rivals came to Pandy Park probably expecting to make it five wins out of five, but were undone by a heroic home performance in a cracker that was only settled in the dying minutes.

Bedwas raced into a 7-0 lead in as many minutes when hooker Dale Rogers was shoved over the try-line by his fellow forwards from a driving lineout, the conversion slotted by former Dragons and Keys outside-half Steffan Jones.

The hosts put their poor start behind them and rolled their sleeves up, putting pressure on the visitors, their efforts rewarded when fly-half Josh Prosser kicked a penalty after 20 minutes.

A largely disappointing second quarter produced little of note and no further scores.

Keys had another good period just before the interval but they failed to score despite putting Bedwas under severe pressure.

A fairly even half ended with the visitors leading 7-3.

Bedwas were again out of the blocks quicker in the second half and a well-struck penalty by Jones stretched their lead to seven.

But again Keys battled back to score 15 unanswered points.

First Prosser landed a penalty before they scored a gem of a try.

Some deft interplay saw openside flanker Joe Thomas send wing Joe Goodchild away for an unconverted touchdown he did well to finish.

The home side went 18-10 up after 57 minutes when they bagged a try, hooker Rob Jones being driven over for a touchdown that was converted by Prosser.

But this topsy-turvy encounter was turned on its head when the visitors scored two quick-fire tries.

They clawed themselves back to within a point when centre Mike Callow finished off a fine move from a turnover to go over for a converted score with 13 minutes left.

And they then exploited some poor Keys defending to take the lead when replacement wing Lewis Evans crossed for an unconverted try with 10 minutes to go.

Keys threw the proverbial kitchen sink at their opponents in the dying minutes and were rewarded when wing Mathew Powell crossed after they exploited an overlap for a converted try in the 79th minute to win it in a thrilling dénouement.

Cross Keys: L Andrews, M Powell, B Nightingale, P Williams (C Shephard 43), J Goodchild, J Prosser, J Leadbeater, C Hewlett, R Jones, R Cornock (N Buck 70), D Mock (H Reader 46), J Skinner, L Davies, J Thomas (T Basham 70), A Powell (capt)

Scorers: Tries: J Goodchild, R Jones, M Powell, Cons: J Prosser 2, Penalties: J Prosser 2.

Bedwas: A Bramwell, R Budina (L Evans 61), M Callow, A Williams, M John, S Jones, N Griffiths (capt) (T Rowlands 51), D Preece (B Toms 51), D Rogers (M Dacey 59), C Budgen, G Edmunds (J Richards 51), C Hudd, A Waite, G Lee (D McGuigan 61), N Hudd.

Scorers: Tries: D Rogers, M Callow, L Evans, Cons: S Jones 2, Penalties: S Jones.

Referee: Wayne Davies (WRU)

Argus star man: Joe Thomas