Unbeaten record over, but Bargoed hope shock defeat can be final spur
Bargoed’s proud unbeaten run may have been shattered by Ystrad Rhondda, but the Admiral Championship leaders are still gunning for a league and cup double.
According to the Bargoed team manager, Brett Wakefield, the 25-15 defeat at Ystrad might just have been the kick in the backside the team needed ahead of their trip to the Principality Stadium this weekend.
On Sunday they face Neath in the WRU Championship Cup final and the bitter taste of defeat could just be the incentive they need to face up to the biggest game of their season.
“We’ve never been to the Principality Stadium before and we can’t wait to have a great day out. Neath have been there and done it all, but we’ll be going there to make the most of our opportunity,” said Wakefield.
“Ystrad fully deserved their win and it was maybe the jolt we needed before we go to the Principality Stadium. We’ll have a few debates over selection now, but we’ll be ready to hit back.”
For Ystrad it was their performance of the season to date as they became the first team to take down the champions elect. The home side’s victory meant the Bulls weren’t able to make it 11 straight league wins and they will have to win their final two league games to be guaranteed the title.
Lock Nathan Hughes and his local warriors were right up for the challenge of taking down the longterm league leaders and built up a 15-5 interval lead. Tries from wings Kurtis Williams and Sion Summers gave them a flying start and teenage replacement outside-half Jacob Symes added a conversion and Summers kicked a penalty.
Bargoed managed one try in the first half and a converted try and penalty in the second as they struggled to keep up with the pace injected into the game by the home side on an unusually hot day. No. 8 Ben Wiliams and the 17-year-old Symes, on his debut, picked up second-half tries to complete a great day for Ystrad.
Bargoed’s cup final rivals, Neath, relegated their league clash with Glamorgan Wanderers from a firstteam fixture to a friendly because the visitors didn’t have a fullstrength team. Wanderers conceded the five league points and then took the lead three times before going down 38-31 in a try-fest at The Gnoll.
Sion Crocker scored two of Neath’s six tries to stick his hand up for a place in the cup final side at the weekend, while the Wanderers ran in five of their own.
Pontypool ran riot as they hit Cross Keys for six to secure a 48-0 victory in the Pandy Park sunshine. After a slow start, with only two Matthew Jarvis penalties for the visitors in the opening half an hour, things picked up just before the break.
Joel Mahoney and Duan Thomas both scored tries and Jarvis added the extras to give Pooler a 20-0 interval lead. Mahoney then ran in his second try before Jarvis added a fourth and kicked two more conversions.
The rout was completed when Mahoney completed his hat-trick and Thomas grabbed a second try. Jarvis kept on kicking his goals to end up with a match tally of 23 points. Pontypool are now within striking distance of Bargoed and will be targeting two more bonuspoint wins to take the title race to the wire.
The game between Bedwas and Trebanos was postponed as the two teams are due to meet at the Principality Stadium in the Championship Plate final next Sunday, while Cardiff Met won 45-31 at Tata Steel.
The game was a tight affair throughout and it took two later tries for the students from Jamie Savery and Bryn Goodall to break the deadlock when the scores were tied at 31-31.