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Bedwas RFC 26-27 Narberth RFC, WRU National Championship

Bedwas RFC suffered a narrow home defeat to Narberth on Saturday, as they were looking to bounce back from a heavy defeat to Neath.

Narberth were first on the scoreboard after eight minutes. A scrum 40 metres from the Bedwas line lead to a break by scrum-half George McDonald, who was rewarded with a try. Ianto Griffiths successfully added the extras.

Narberth had an opportunity to increase their lead around the 15-minute mark, but Griffiths’ kick went wide. A few minutes later, their lead was increased courtesy of a Josh Davies try in the left-hand corner. Griffiths missed the conversion.

But Bedwas pulled a try back through Callaghan Smith. The kick was converted by Lloyd Wilkins before Wilkins himself looked to have crossed the line. However, the referee deemed he had been held up and ruled the effort out.

Narberth increased their lead after 34 minutes. A scrum on the half-way line saw the ball picked up by their captain Tom Powell who ran through to touch down under the posts. Griffiths added the conversion before slotting a second penalty just before the half-time whistle to put his side 22-7 ahead at the break.

The big question on the lips of every Bedwas supporter was ‘could we see another comeback in the second half?’

Bedwas made changes at half-time, with captain Dale Rogers replaced by Will Fishlock having rolled his ankle, while Tommy Chapman was replaced by Jo Hole.

Thirteen minutes into the second half, a break by Bedwas’ Rhys Hutcherson was finished off by Rhys Morgans, but Wilkins missed the conversion.

With 20 minutes of the half played Bedwas made wholesale replacements as Ben Drew, Dylan Morgan and Rhys Jones all entered the fray replacing Ryan Thomas, Callaghan Smith, and Conor Jones-Graves, respectively.

Five minutes later, Morgan crossed for his first Bedwas try; diving across the line following a Bedwas driving maul. Wilkins successfully converted and Narberth’s lead was cut to a slender two points.

Three minutes after that, Bedwas took the lead for the first time in the game. Rhys Morgans and Mike Dacey made the hard yards before setting up Aaron Billingham to dive over the line for a try in the right-hand corner. Wilkins’ successful conversion put Bedwas 26-22 ahead with ten minutes remaining.

Narberth refused to lie down and exploited a gap in the Bedwas defence – allowing replacement Lewys Gibby the space to cross for a try. The same player was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt, but his side were now one point ahead with six minutes left to play.

No further scoring chances were created as Narberth held on to record their first win over Bedwas in seven attempts. Bedwas take two points from the game: for four tries and a losing margin of less than seven points.

Bedwas will make the short journey to Beddau RFC on Saturday, October 1 for their next game in the WRU National Championship.