Bridgend 6-21 Swansea

Swansea gave their hopes of Heineken Cup qualification a massive boost with a crushing defeat of sad Bridgend at the Brewery Field.

A bruising opening half saw few clear-cut chances with Bridgend edging ahead through a penalty by Craig Warlow.

Defences remained in charge as Arwel Thomas rewarded Swansea forward pressure by converting a penalty hat-trick.

Swansea lost Scott Gibbs for 10 minutes when the skipper was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle and it signalled a brief attacking spell by Bridgend.

They managed a second Warlow penalty during the absence of Gibbs but from the restart Sililo Martens struck a huge blow by crossing for an important Swansea touchdown.

The final nail was driven into the Bridgend coffin after a thunderous tackle by Steve Winn on Gareth Williams saw the ball go loose for Matthew Robinson to sprint clear to the posts.

The gloss was taken off Swansea's impressive triumph when replacement Pat Dunkley was red-carded for kneeing an opponent in an off-the-ball offence.

Bridgend: A Durston; R Mustoe, G Thomas (capt), D James, Daniel Jones; C Warlow, H Harries; C Loader, G Williams, J Thiel, P Clapham, D Jones, R Bryan, S van Rensburg, J Ringer.
Reps: J Hewlett, C Rees, J Funnell, A Joy, A Griffiths, K Stewart, G Dean.

Swansea: K Morgan, M Robinson, S Winn, S Gibbs (capt), S Payne, A Thomas, S Martens, D Morris, G Jenkins, B Evans, T Maullin, L Jones, G Lewis, D Thomas, R Jones.
Reps: G Henson, M Taylor, P Dunkley, J Marsters, J Bater, Tenconi.

Referee: Gareth Simmons (WRFU)