Bargoed 38 Aberavon 18
Saturday October 20, Bargoed Park
Principality Premiership
Bargoed produced an outstanding performance to get a bonus point win over top three side Aberavon in this Principality Premiership tie at a glorious Bargoed Park.
The early exchanges saw Bargoed use their powerful scrum to good use.
Wing Ashley Norton opened the scoring after 17 minutes with Josh Prosser converting for a 10-0 lead.
Aberavon bounced back though as centre Will Price went over and Captain James Garland converted to make it 10-7.
Bargoed had the next opportunity to score in this exciting tussle as Barney Nightingale stripped the ball and put Norton away, and when the Wizards conceded a penalty at the contact area, Prosser was on hand to kick the penalty for a 13-7 lead.
Aberavon again bounced back and Garland kicked a penalty to make it 13-10.
Bargoed’s defence was excellent with everyone working hard.
After forcing an error from Aberavon, Bargoed made their way to the opposition 22. Still dominating the scrum, they were awarded a penalty try to lead 20-10 on the half-hour mark.
The Wizards fought back, but failed to score before half-time. This was despite a Bargoed yellow card after player Grant Rogers killed the ball on Bargoed’s line.
A man down at the beginning of the second half, Bargoed had to defend early on.
Poor discipline saw a penalty reversed for Bargoed, even though Aberavon hooker Cameron Lewis was sent off with a yellow card.
Bargoed looked likely to score next after an impressive Norton made another break.
However the Wizards got their hands on the ball and attacked from their own line which allowed wing Shaun Pearce to score at the other end and close the gap to 20-15.
Aberavon conceded a scrum penalty on 65 minutes, and Prosser stepped up to increase the lead to 23-15.
Another Bargoed yellow card, this time for obstruction from Louis Blacker, followed a sustained period of pressure from Aberavon on the Bargoed line.
Aberavon took the three points to make it 23-18.
The Bulls then played some great stuff with replacement Jordan Purcell looking sharp, and making a break. He was tackled close to the try line, the ball was moved and that man Norton powered over for his second try to make it 28-18 with 12 minutes to go.
Bargoed bagged the bonus point try when James Leadbeater went in for a deserved try converted by Prosser. Bargoed added to this at the final whistle as Prosser kicked another penalty to make the final score 38-18.
Bargoed have certainly learnt the lessons from the disappointing defeat by Bedwas a couple of weeks ago and look galvanised as they approach a key part of the season
They should take huge confidence from the performances of the last two weeks as they look to improve on their current tenth place in the league.
• Report provided by Bargoed RFC.