PRINCIPALITY Premiership leaders Ebbw Vale have suffered a setback in their push for the title with second row Ashley Sweet being sidelined by a rib injury.

Sweet, who returned to Eugene Cross Park this summer after two seasons in regional rugby as a Dragons player, has been a key component of an unbeaten Steelmen side this term.

Under Greg Woods, Ebbw have won all seven of their league fixtures to date, giving them a two-point lead over reigning champions Merthyr at the top of the table.

But not only will Sweet miss tomorrow’s trip to Sardis Road to face Pontypridd, he is also set to sit out next Friday’s mouth-watering clash with Merthyr – both are being show live on television.

“Ashley’s going to be out for a few weeks,” said captain Ronny Kynes. “Losing him is a major blow because he is obviously one of our key players.

“The difference with our squad now is that we’ve got players who can come in and play just as well.

“In fact, these lads have been chomping at the bit to get on the field and can’t wait for their go.

“Ashley will still be involved because he runs our lineout, which is a vital part of our game, and he’ll be at training.”

Sardis Road holds some special memories for the Steelmen following their Grand Final win there over Pontypridd in 2016.

But while no-one has been able to get the better of them this season, Kynes still feels Ebbw won’t start the game as favourites.

“We’ve had a bit of success there in the past but it hasn’t always been like that and we’ll know what we’re up against,” added Kynes.

“Pontypridd is always going to be a tough game but we went to RGC, which is one of the hardest trips in the league, and won.

“We go there as the underdogs. I’ve heard people saying we’ll come unstuck there but that gees us up even more.

“It would be great to keep the record going but staying unbeaten for the whole season in this league would be a minor miracle.”

He continued: “People have been bigging us up but there have been some bonkers results in this league and anybody can beat anybody.

“Every week is like a cup final and the boys are working hard to deliver on the pitch.

“Fair play to Greg and his staff, they are mixing it up in training to keep us on our toes and avoid any complacency.

“It’s so far, so good and we’re not getting ahead of ourselves by thinking we just need to turn up.”

Ebbw kept their 100% record intact last weekend with a 22-7 Gwent derby defeat of Cross Keys.

And they did it with a performance Kynes was particularly pleased with given the tough conditions.

“I thought we played the conditions really well,” said the flanker. “Keys had a good spell in the second half and scored off a mistake.

“But we did well to get a bonus-point try playing into the wind.”