Blaenavon beat Risca 21-6 in the Ben Francis Cup final at Glan-Yr-Afon Park in Blackwood on Saturday May 16.
Risca came out of the blocks from the start, taking the game to Blaenavon with their big bruising forwards.
Blaenavon gave away a simple penalty which Owen Bidderscombe slotted over to make it 3-0 to Risca three minutes.
Risca kept up the pressure on the Blaenavon defence, running the ball at them but their passing accuracy let them down and Blaenavon could clear their lines with some good touchfinders by Dan Phillips and Darren Pearce.
Matthew Billings was very unlucky not to intercept a Risca pass, but from the resulting scrum Blaenavon moved the ball out wide and Gareth Jones on the wing almost got to the line but got tackled into touch a yard short.
The Risca scrum was solid and Blaenavon scrum half Ryan Bates was working hard behind the Blaenavon pack with darting runs causing Risca problems.
Risca gave away a penalty from the breakdown, which Darren Pearce kicked to make it three all after 20 minutes.
Risca were soon back on the attack, helped by some poor Blaenavon defence but they held out and started to make inroads into the Risca defence helped by some good drives from Jamie Nobel, Lewis John, Sam Cooke and Chris Baldwin.
Risca gave away a penalty which Darren Pearce slotted over to make it 6-3 to Blaenavon after 30 mins.
Blaenavon were in the ascendency now and took game to Risca. Matthew Billings was unlucky not to score as he was tackled inches from the line and Risca managed to clear.
From a solid scrum Dan Phillips put in an textbook kick to the corner and from the lineout Blaenavon attacked the Risca line causing them to give another penalty which Darren Pearce had no problem slotting over on the stoke of half-time to make it Blaenavon 9 Risca 3.
The second half saw Risca on the attack and a good rolling maul took them deep into Blaenavon territory, but again their backs dropped the ball.
Blaenavon scrum half Ryan Bates put in a brilliant clearance kick, but Risca worked the ball wide and should have scored in the corner but for try saving tackles from Rhys Long and Richard Dennington.
Blaenavon took all up the middl,e with Peter Loader and Sam Evans leading the charge. The ball was spun out to Darren Pearce who carved a big hole in the Risca defence with a lovely side step and fed Richard Dennington who ran in Blaenavon’s first try. The conversion was missed and the score was 14-3 to Blaenavon after 48 minutes.
From the kick off Risca charged up field and stole the ball off the Blaenavon defenders, causing Blaenavon to deliberately knock on and a penalty in front of the posts for Risca who converted to make it 14-6.
Risca started to pressure the Blaenavon line, causing them to cough up two kickable penalties, but both were missed.
Blaenavon secured the win from turnover ball when Darren Pearce’s perfectly weighted kick ahead saw flying winger Gareth Jones gather the ball and leave the Risca defenders in his trail as he ran in under the posts. Darren Pearce converted to make the score 21-6 and make Blaenavon Ben Francis Cup winners for 2015.