Bargoed began life in the WRU Championship with a 20-20 draw away to Cardiff Met on Saturday, September 7.
The bulls, relegated from the Principality Premiership last season, took the lead with a Steffan Jones penalty after early pressure.
The visitors controlled possession and territory but were undone by a number of errors, preventing them from getting more points on the board early on.
Bargoed went 6-0 up after another penalty from Jones, before the university side responded with a penalty from centre Harry Johnston, cutting the lead to 6-3.
The visitors continued to attack Cardiff Met and appeared to have scored through Kieron Brown, but the referee judged Brown to have knocked on.
Further opportunities came to pass for Bargoed, with Darren Humphries and Grant Rogers both looking likely to score.
However, a lapse in concentration saw Cardiff Met win a scrum penalty inside Bargoed’s 22 metre line.
Johnston scored the penalty to draw the hosts level at the end of a scruffy first half.
Bargoed fell behind soon into the second half after an unsuccessful lineout saw Johnston burst through to score the first try of the game.
Johnston converted his own try to put Bargoed 13-6 behind.
But the visitors, spurred on by their heavy pack, battled back to level the scores through a try from No8 Adam Powell, which was converted by Jones.
Having equalised, the side marched forward to take the lead when second-rower Geraint Edmonds crashed over the try line.
Jones’ conversion put Bargoed 20-13 ahead.
But the tiring Bargoed side began making errors and conceding penalties.
The Bulls lost control of possession at the scrum and Cardiff Met flanker Will Gibson pounced over the line to score.
Johnston converted from the kicking tee to draw the sides level again.
Refusing to be beaten, Bargoed produced a series of threatening attacks late on but were unable to breach the hosts’ defence for a third time, with the game ending level.
After claiming two points on the road, Bargoed will now prepare for a trip to Premiership outfit Aberavon in the WRU National Cup on Saturday, September 14.
