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Bargoed RFC capped off their double-winning season in emphatic style, lifting the WRU National Championship East trophy after a resounding win over Bedwas at Bargoed Park.

A strong start from the visitors threatened to spoil Bargoed’s promotion party, but the Bulls turned the screw and proved why they are league champions – going on to win 59-21 on Saturday May 4.

Bargoed will now play in the newly-created Community Championship next season following reforms at the top of the club game in Wales.

While they will still be in the second tier on the club rugby pyramid, Bargoed will be going up against big clubs like Pontypridd, Merthyr, and Neath in the reformed division.

Following victory over Bedwas, a win that saw them finish the season unbeaten at home, Bargoed were presented with the trophy, which players lifted with coaches, backroom staff, and players from the club’s burgeoning mini and junior section.

It was the second trophy lift for the club’s first team this season, following their WRU Championship Cup final win over Ystrad Rhondda at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium last month.

It was a far cry from two decades ago, when the club was languishing in division six.

“We’ve got momentum”

After the trophy presentation, Bargoed captain James Leadbeater told Caerphilly Observer he was “happy and relieved” to get the job done after “months of hard work”.

The scrum-half said: “It was our aim (to win the league), but we completely changed the way we wanted to play. We lost once or twice earlier in the year but we stuck at it and after November we really kicked on.”

He continued: “We were disappointed a few years back when we dropped from the Premiership, but we knew there were things that needed to be fixed, so being in the Championship has given us time to fix them. We fixed a few things on and off the pitch, and now we’ve got a good solid group, we’ve got momentum, and we feel we can really have a go at that new league next year.”

Leadbeater spoke of setting “the bar high” next season, and is relishing ties against some of the bigger clubs in the new league.

His teammate, fly-half Josh Prosser, hailed the campaign the best he’s been a part of in his ten seasons in the senior team.

Prosser, who came up through the club’s youth section, said: “Hopefully we can kick on next year in the new prem, and hopefully challenge for the title again.

“I’ve got no doubt the boys can do it, so hopefully we can get to the top and keep going, get the cup as well, and hopefully push on.”

He added: “This club is all one big family. It’s not just the first team, we’ve got 40 boys training on a Tuesday and a Thursday, we’ve had the mini section here today playing before us, it’s just one big group – that’s what it’s all about.”

“Going in the right direction”

Brett Wakefield, who has been Bargoed’s team manager for 22 years, described this season’s title win as “one of many” happy moments he’s experienced at the club – and something he would have never envisaged when the club were in division six back in the 2002/03 season.

“Not being a local boy, coming down from Newport, I didn’t even know where Bargoed was to be honest,” joked Wakefield.

“We’ve got a great chairman in Neil Carter, a lot of sponsors which really helps, and we’ve had a lot of talented players that play professional rugby. But we’re only going in the right direction. It’s a good achievement.”

The magnitude of Bargoed’s recent achievements are particularly poignant for 83-year-old Gordon Adams, who is a lifetime member at the club.

A former club secretary for 26 years, Mr Adams has been involved with the club since he joined as a 17-year-old player in 1957.

“I’ve had a fantastic time, and this caps it all,” he said.

“I thought that we’d had it (when the club was in division six) to be honest, but this is what the club is all about.

“All the youngsters today are jumping on the bandwagon, and I only wish we had that when I played.

“I learned my rugby in grammar school and just went from there, but I’ve had a fantastic time. it’s a great club and it’s nice to be a part of it.

“We’re a village club, they’re fine people, good people. It’s what the game is about, and what the club is about.”

“When you coach a team like Bargoed, there’s always an expectation to win“

The club’s success comes after the appointment of Aberbargoed-born Jack Condy as head coach last summer.

“It’s obviously a great feeling,” said former Scarlets back-rower Condy following the trophy presentation. “We had a big emphasis on being unbeaten at home. It was a tough start today but the boys obviously turned a corner and were excellent.

“When you coach a team like Bargoed, there’s always an expectation to win, especially with the club having a huge mini and junior section. They are setting the standard for community rugby and when you come here there’s an expectation to win, and that’s not just me as a coach, that’s Bargoed Rugby Club.”

The 29-year-old continued: “It’s not just me, there’s a huge backroom staff here. I’ve been at other good clubs, and I came here and the off-field stuff is excellent. My job is to coach, I turn up and all I do is coach, I haven’t got to worry about anything, everything’s done for you, it’s a great club off the field.”

Speaking about the “huge challenge” facing the club next season, Condy said Bargoed will be on the lookout for a “couple more signings” in the summer – but stressed there will still be “an expectation to win”.

He thanked everyone involved with the club for their efforts this season, and said: “Credit to the players for turning up week-in-week-out, especially in the winter nights – it’s tough. It’s hard to come home from work and go back out when it’s raining, but these boys keep turning up. It says a lot about them as characters and a lot about them as people.”

Bargoed’s director of rugby, Jeremy Rogers, praised “fantastic” Condy for giving the side “a real impetus” this season.

Mr Rogers said: “The way we play, we’re not just bump and grind – we very much want to play a bit, get the ball wide, and the result of that is the number of tries we scored this season.

“It all comes down to the hard work of the coaches and the players, and those guys, Tuesday and Thursday, are working their socks off. You can’t ask for any more.

“Jack’s done a really good job from top to bottom, because we’re a community club at heart. We’ve got a second team, the Warriors, who hopefully are going to go into the national leagues next year.”