The SSE Swalec Championship derby between Newbridge and Bargoed was preceded by an impeccably observed minute silence to pay respect to Rhys Jones and Ryan Gibbons, who passed away after a car crash.
And Bargoed paid further tribute to their player and supporter by winning the tight derby 13-19 on October 24.
Conditions were poor and a scrappy start resulted in a rash of penalties.
Early frustration and some talking back saw Bargoed’s Andrew Coupe sent to the sin-bin with only ten minutes on the clock.
The home side opened the scoring with outside half Paul King putting over a penalty when Bargoed infringed at a ruck.
The Blues hit back with a Duane Dyer try after 17 minutes. Second row Marc Gwilt took a clean catch at a lineout inside the Newbridge 22 and was driven on.
Leigh Medes had a dart before releasing the ball across the backs with the flying Dyer finishing in the corner to make it 3-5.
Bargoed dominated both territory and possession for much of the rest of the half but the greasy conditions made handling difficult.
Meanwhile, the penalties kept coming at the breakdown so the stop-start nature of the game continued until half-time.
The Blues started the second half where they left off and were camped in the opposition half.
It took until the 55th minute to extend the lead and it was the forwards who again led the way with another driving maul.
When the ball came out, centre Lewis Protheroe put fellow centre Darren Humphries over. Outside half Mathew Hutcheon converted to make it 3-12.
A further try came when another penalty went to the corner and another driving maul saw captain and hooker Leigh Meades come up with the ball. Hutcheon converted and Bargoed looked comfortable at 3-19.
However, Newbridge pulled a try back with full back Ryan Lee going over for an unconverted score to narrow the gap to 8-19.
Bargoed pressed for the fourth try and the bonus-point and with a clear two-man overlap it looked a racing certainty but a knock-on was picked up by wing Lewis Hudd to run in for Newbridge.
The 13-19 scoreline made for an uncomfortable last ten minutes for Bargoed, but the home side didn’t make it easy for themselves when number eight Louis Blacker was sin-binned for a high tackle.
Bargoed held out to make it five games unbeaten.