Huge cup test for RGC
DESPITE having beaten this weekend’s WRU National Cup opponents Merthyr twice already this season, RGC head coach Mark Jones believes his side are still underdogs for Saturday’s semi-final encounter with the Ironmen at Sardis Road, Pontypridd (5pm).
The Gogs will enter the biggest match in their brief history on the back of a 21-15 home loss to Bedwas last weekend in Premiership Tier 1, while Merthyr hammered Llandovery 75-14.
However, in league tussles between the last-four foes this term, the Gogs defeated the Ironmen 23-19 at The Wern and 25-24 in Colwyn Bay.
RGC suffered just a second home reverse of the season as in-form Bedwas took the spoils last Saturday.
Gogs head coach Mark Jones was a frustrated man after the game.
“Both halves were fairly similar and our lack of accuracy let Bedwas off the hook,” said Jones. “They are a big powerful side, so we wanted to shift the ball and move them around but we failed to do that.
“The game was fairly stop-start and the set-piece became crucial. Bedwas were solid in the set-piece and we couldn’t match them in the contact area.
“Bedwas finished second before the Principality Premiership split, so they are a good side and were smarter in execution.”
Jones added: “We will learn from this defeat, as we have done all sea- son, and things are fixable. We can look forward to a cup semi-final next week against Merthyr.
“Although we have beaten them twice this season we are still underdogs, especially following them putting over 70 points on Llandovery. We will get back to basics this week in training in preparation for Saturday.”
RGC enjoyed the better of the opening 10 minutes against Bedwas, but only had a Jacob Botica penalty as reward.
Both sides had their attacking moments for the rest of the half, but come the interval it remained 3-0.
The second stanza started with Bedwas claiming the first try through Patric Lewis.
Some great work from Will Bryan then gave RGC an opportunity to spring an attack. Afon Bagshaw was the man to spark the back-line and he found the space to outrun the chasing tacklers to score, Botica improving.
The boot of Richard Powell kept Bedwas in the game with a couple of penalties as they edged into an 11-10 lead.
The visitors then opened up their hosts for Joseph Davies to dive over in the corner, Powell converting.
RGC hit back, Sam Jones racing down the wing before his pass was caught by Josh Leach, who returned the favour for the winger to score.
Bedwas were given a penalty minutes later and Powell hit another great kick to push them 21-15 ahead.
RGC strove for another last-minute winning score, but credit to Bedwas, they held firm to claim the victory.