Bargoed clash is ‘must-win’ – Fisher

LLANELLI head coach Paul Fisher has labelled this afternoon’s clash at Bargoed as a must-win encounter as his team battle to retain their Principality Premiership status.

The men from west Wales are a point off safety but have been buoyed by last weekend’s derby victory over Carmarthen Quins.

Fisher insists it is vital for the Scarlets region that his team remain in the Premiership.

“When you are playing teams who are around you in the table then these games are worth eight to 10 points. This is a must-win game,” he said.

“For us, the win last week against Quins was huge and hopefully now we can try to kick on from that. If you look at our last four games, our performances have been good.

“We played Merthyr away and had a try disallowed in the last play. We had a close encounter against Llandovery at home, we had a close game against Pontypridd in the cup, and then we managed to get over the line against Quins last weekend.”

Bargoed lie one from bottom in the Premiership table and have only won three games all season, but Fisher insists they will not be a walk in the park for his side.

He said: “Bargoed have a heavy pack and they go to their scrum quite a bit to get field position through penalties.

“Having looked at some of their footage, they’ve also been playing some nice rugby behind the scrum.

“They are quite innovative, but they are likely to try and turn the screw on us up front.”

Elsewhere, Carmarthen Quins will be looking to bounce back from their defeat to Llanelli with a home fixture against seventh placed Aberavon.

Cross Keys will be looking to move clear of the relegation battle as they host Ebbw Vale. The high-flying Steelmen are fourth in the table and will be hoping to keep pressure on the top three.

Fifth-place Llandovery host Bridgend with Matt Silva’s Ravens in desperate need of a win with the trap door opening.

The Ravens are 14th in the table but just one point away from climbing out of the relegation places.

Top-of-the-table Merthyr will expect to extend their position at the top of the table when they face bottom club Neath. The defending champions hold a five-point lead over second place Cardiff while the Welsh All Blacks are destined for relegation.

Newport host RGC 1404 at Rodney Parade tomorrow (2.30pm) in the final game of the weekend.

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