Ironmen are made to work hard for East division title
PRINCIPALITY PREMIERSHIP EAST
MERTHYR .................... 33 BARGOED .................... 23
MERTHYR won the Principality Premiership East title but were made to fight right up to the final whistle by visitors Bargoed.
It was hard to believe that after this result the visitors were bottom of the East table, as at times they looked the better side.
Bargoed had the chance to open the score after four minutes but outside half Callum Jones’ penalty hit the crossbar and bounced out, however minutes later he made no mistake with a penalty in front of the post to give the visitors a 0-3 lead.
Merthyr were struggling to get into the game and were guilty of several handling errors and things got worse for the home side when left wing Ashley Norton forced his way over from short range. Jones converted to give Bargoed a 0-10 lead.
This seemed to wake Merthyr up as they started to put several good phases together with good work from Ben Murphy, Phil Rees and Osian Davies which saw scrum half Rhys Downes bring his backs into action for the first time and when the ball reached left wing Alex Howman, he showed good strength and power to beat the Bargoed defence to race in for Merthyr’s first try, full back Matthew Jarvis converted to close the gap 7-10.
The Merthyr eight then drove Bargoed backwards at the scrum and to everyone’s amazement referee Ian Davies gave the penalty against Merthyr, with Jones making no mistake to extend Bargoed’s lead 7-13.
Back came Merthyr with a good passing movement from the home backs which saw scrum half Downes dart away to score in the corner, Jarvis converted and Merthyr had taken the lead for the first time 14-13.
However, from the restart Merthyr gave away a silly penalty with Jones making no mistake as the game swung back to Bargoed 14-16.
The Merthyr pack then began to put the Bargoed eight under pressure at the set piece and gave away a penalty just over half way line.
Outside half Gareth Davies elected to kick for the corner. From the lineout, the Merthyr pack drove Bargoed back over their own line with skipper Craig Locke claiming the try, as Merthyr took back the lead back 19-16.
It was Bargoed who had the last say in this entertaining first half when No 8 Ieuan Jones crashed over from short range on the stroke of half-time, Jones converted and Bargoed and had taken a 1923 half-time lead.
The second half saw home scrum half Downes regain the lead back for Merthyr as he claimed his second try of the afternoon when once again the home pack drove Bargoed backwards from a 15m scrum, Downes converted as Merthyr reclaimed the lead 26-23.
The remainder of the second half was a calamity of errors from both sides with most of the play inside the Bargoed half but Merthyr found it hard to break down the visitors’ defence. The last score of the game came with time almost up when home centre Josh Martin found a gap in the stubborn Bargoed defence to force his way over, Jarvis converted and Merthyr had run out winners 33-23.
In a game that swung both ways it was the Merthyr pack that once again held the upper hand with the front row of Prevett, Wilkes and Pocskai out-scrummaging their opposite numbers. Behind the scrum, scrum half Downes looked sharp all afternoon and it was good to see Josh Martin back in Merthyr colours.
This win cemented Merthyr as East champions ahead of the second half of the season when the East division merges with the West.