A winner-takes-all derby will take place at Sardis Road on Tuesday, February 26 (KO 7.30pm) after both Cardiff Blues under-16 sides maintained their 100 per cent records in the Regional Age Grade Championship this week.
Cardiff Blues South secured a bonus-point win over Dragons South at Cardiff Arms Park on Wednesday, while Cardiff Blues North sealed a 14-0 victory against Ospreys East.
Cardiff Blues South were frustrating in the first-half and trailed by four-points at the interval but cut loose in the second, with three tries to ease away from the visitors.
Going into the match with six wins from six, the hosts got off to the perfect start when winger Joshua Nott’s surging run eventually resulted in the ball being moved out wide where number eight Charlie Jowett bundled his way over for the game’s opening try.
The Blues were unable to hold on to the ball from the restart however and a loose pass was picked up by Dragons wing Jamahri Chatham who walked in under the posts, with fly-half Joe Westwood converting to give the visitors a two-point lead.
As the half wore on the Blues were left frustrated by a resolute Dragons defence, and with Westwood playing flat to the line, they struggled to deal with Dragons’ dangerous strike-runners.
Things got worse on the half-hour mark when Westwood collected a pass from a Dragons scrum close to the Blues line and glided through a gap to score a try converted by himself to increase the Dragons’ lead.
However, the Blues responded to this with a period of sustained pressure inside the Dragons half and were rewarded for their patience when fly-half Steffan Crimp put Cian Anderson over in the corner to reduce the Dragons lead to four points at half-time.
Having had the better of possession in the first-half the Dragons were good value for their lead with the Blues struggling to build any play in attack, however after a frantic start to the second-half it was the Blues who regained their composure the fastest.
Full-back Josh Atkinson showed dazzling footwork to break the line and when he found space in the Dragons half, captain Tirion Bowen was on hand to receive the pass and cross the whitewash.
With Crimp adding the conversion the Blues were back in the lead at 17-14 and never looked back with the hosts looking more composed in attack, whilst the visitors struggled to match the intensity of their first-half defensive efforts.
As Dragons handling errors mounted up the Blues pulled away in the final quarter with replacement Mefin Hopkins wrestling his way over from close range before man-of-the-match Jowett rounded off the scoring with his second of the night to seal a comfortable win for the hosts and maintain their position at the top of the table.
Meanwhile, the North made sure the final day of the Championship would be a winner-takes-all affair in Pontypridd, after securing a 14-0 win over Ospreys East.
A try from Will Huggins, converted by Ben Burnell, saw the Blues head into the interval with a seven-point advantage, and they doubled their lead in the second half to take away four points from the clash.