Porthcawl back from the dead to reach Bowl final Local rugby

PORTHCAWL club official Paul Fielding admitted he thought their chance of making the WRU National Bowl final had gone before their dramatic “comeback from the dead” against Abercwmboi at Taffs Well.

Three East Central A leaders Abercwmboi led 20-9 heading into the final 10 minutes, thanks to tries from Matthew Jones, Tom Owens and Lee Jarvis as well as five points from Jordan Rees.

Three penalties from Josh White had kept Porthcawl in a game that looked to be slipping away from them until a dramatic final few minutes swung the game around.

“I thought it had gone, we all thought it had gone,” admitted Fielding.

“I think what got them in the end was they tired whereas we had enough in the tank.

“We managed to get in their territory, pen them back in their own 22 and we had a couple of scrums there and Owen Thomas just latched onto a ball and drove in between the posts.

“We didn’t know how much time was left, we were expecting the ref to blow at any time and they kicked it up the field and we just came back, threw the ball wide and Gareth Rees just cut through from halfway.

“He took the ball on the halfway [line], showed the ball and just went.

“It was like a very subtle dummy really and he just blasted through the gap and he was over before you knew it.

“Everybody just went absolutely crazy because he touched down between the posts, which meant the conversion was going to be pretty straightforward and, of course, that put us three points in front.

“But nobody knew exactly how long was left.

“There was a lot of time added on – and there weren’t many injuries.”

The referee blew for full-time less than two minutes after White’s second conversion, which proved just how close the Seaweeds came to missing out on a trip to the Principality Stadium on April 29, and a final against Cardiff University.

Fielding is anticipating a highlyentertaining showpiece with both teams going for their first Bowl title.

“Cardiff University don’t play in the National Leagues at all, they just play in the university league so it’s not as if we know much about them or what their season has been like,” he said.

“Because of the width of the pitch at the Principality Stadium it could be a real festival of running rugby because we’re a very fit side, some of our boys are not much older than the university boys. “It could be interesting. “It’s the first time the club has even got this far in a major competition.

“To get there is an incredible reward for the hard work that the boys have put in and in fairness Rhys James, the coach, has been incredible to get the boys playing such attractive rugby.”

Their stunning comeback continued what has been a fantastic season for the Seaweeds, who made it to the High Motive Glamorgan County Silver Ball quarter-finals before deciding to withdraw to ease their hectic fixture schedule.

And they are also still in the hunt for the Three West Central A title.

Birchgrove are currently way out in front on 85 points with Porthcawl 33 points further back, but they boast seven games in hand, largely due to their run in the National Bowl where they have beaten Bridgend Sports, Pontycymmer, Wattstown, Trimsaran, Newport Saracens and Penygraig.

And, with the Bowl final still more than three weeks away, Porthcawl can concentrate on closing the gap on leaders Birchgrove, who they face on Saturday in another big game for the club.