THRILLING COMEBACK CLINCHES FINAL SPOT FOR BONY
BONYMAEN are heading to the Principality Stadium at the end of this month after a stunning comeback saw them defeat Treorchy 28-19 to reach the final of the WRU National Plate.
It wasn’t all plain sailing in this semi-final clash at Glynneath’s Abernant Park in what was the proverbial game of two halves in which the Zebras led 14-0 at the interval.
However, Bonymaen stormed back in the second half thanks to two tries from Sam Jones and one from Chris Moore. Richard Cunniffe added two conversions and a penalty while Lawrence Thomas sent over a penalty and a drop-goal.
Their reward is a final showdown on Sunday, April 28, with undefeated Brecon, who got the better of One East counterparts and two-time former Plate winners Penallta 22-17 in the other semi-final at Ebbw Vale’s Eugene Cross Park.
Bony team manager Dai Allen hailed the win over Treorchy as the best in the club’s history.
“I would say it’s definitely the biggest, the club has never been this far and we don’t know if and when it’s going to happen again,” he said.
“It was a bit of a shock to be 14-0 down at half-time. Treorchy came out and played some good attacking rugby and were running the ball from anywhere.
“It just didn’t happen for whatever reason in the first half and we made a lot of errors that allowed them into the game.
“But the coaches had a few choice words to say at half-time and we came out a different team in the second half.
“I think as we came back into it the crowd were getting excited and the boys were feeding off that and it really helped them through at the end.
“I think the boys have just forgotten how to lose at the moment.”
Allen also hailed the support the team received as excitement builds ahead of Finals Day.
“We took three coaches on Saturday as well as people travelling themselves in cars,” he added.
“We took over Glynneath a bit with our support.
“You could really see what it means to everybody after the game when everybody was on the pitch with the players.
“There’s a really good atmosphere, it’s a real community.
“The boys have worked hard right from pre-season and it has all come to this now.
“We’ve still got the league going on as well and it’s all looking good. We’ve got a really strong squad and there’s a lot of competition.”
Bonymaen will now switch their attention back to their One West Central title battle with Ystalyfera.
The Parc Mawr men host Tondu this Saturday and then face Maesteg Celtic home and away before Finals Day, where their appearance means the scheduled final league match of the season at Brynaman will have to be rearranged.
However, there will no trip to the Principality Stadium for Nantgaredig after they suffered a gut-wrenching 25-23 defeat at the hands of Abergavenny in their WRU National Bowl semi-final at Llanharan’s Dairy Field.
Leading 20-10 at half-time, Nant looked to be on their way to victory, only for Abergavenny to fight back in