RUGBY UNION: A trip west to face Carmarthen Quins in the next round of the Swalec Cup awaits Bedwas after a hard-earned victory over a battling Pontypool side, played away on January 16.
Both sides will rue errors on what was a heavy pitch after the recent wet weather, but both will be glad to have gotten a game played as they looked to blow away the rustiness of three weeks without a fixture.
Bedwas got off to a quick start and a drive by the forwards was followed up by scrum-half Luke Crane to put Mike Callow in for a try, James Dixon adding the extras.
Both sides attacked with vigour but were unable to add to their scores. Both also made their task that little bit harder as the referee saw fit to sin-bin flankers Rob Nash of Pontypool and George Lee of Bedwas after a bout of innocuous fisticuffs.
Tom Hancock kicked a penalty for Pontypool after 25 minutes to reduce the deficit but six minutes later Bedwas increased their lead after Mathew John crashed over in the right hand corner. Dixon’s kick was wide. No more scores came before the break which saw Bedwas 12-3 ahead.
Pontypool came out for the second half in determined mood. A series of drives by forwards and backs saw them camped on the Bedwas line and they gained their reward as Sione Tuipolotu was deemed to be the scorer through a pile of bodies. Hancock’s conversion hit a post and rebounded to safety.
Bedwas head coach substituted his entire front row and then his scrum-half in a bid to inject impetus. Bbut it was Pooler who scored next as Hancock slotted a second penalty after 64 minutes to reduce the deficit to one solitary point.
Bedwas responded and a break down the left was finished off by Rory Budina who touched down behind the posts, Dixon added the conversion to ease Bedwas’ nerves.
Pontypool were not finished and continued to press and put Bedwas under pressure. A yellow card for Keiron Jenkins following a scrum offence did not help the Bedwas cause but they managed to hold out to claim a hard-earned win.
Saturday, January 23 sees Bedwas host Newport RFC in a Foster’s Challenge Cup game, kick-off 2.30pm.
• Match report and photography by Ian Lovell of Bedwas RFC.