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Caerphilly have officially been crowned Division 2 East Central champions after extending their 100% season record with a win against Taffs Well.

The WRU presented the club’s first XV with the league trophy after a dominant 68-14 victory at Virginia Park on Saturday April 26.

It was 17 wins out 17 for the Cheesemen, with a final away game against Cowbridge on Wednesday April 30 standing in the way of an almost ‘perfect’ season.

Caerphilly had already tied up the league title – the club’s first since the 1990s – with a win against St Albans on April 19.

Further success against Llantwit Fadre away on April 23 meant Caerphilly headed into this match top of the league with 79 points out of a possible 80 – the freescoring men in green dropping just a single available bonus point.

Against Taffs Well, the bonus point for four tries was easily earned with the scoreline reflecting Caerphilly’s dominance. It could have been worse for the visitors at the Mollex Stadium – the referee blew-up with at least ten minutes remaining on the clock.

The title win and promotion is the culmination of a five-year plan for the club and head coach Gareth Short.

Speaking before the match he told Caerphilly Observer: “We’ve had a long-term plan. When I took over five years ago we put a plan in place for us to get promoted within five years and we’ve achieved that which is nice.

“We just missed out last year, and the year before, but I think that’s been a blessing in disguise – I don’t think we were ready to go up then.

“This year however, everything has come together – the culture, the ethos, and everybody is working for each other. Our motto is together as one.”

He added: “It hasn’t been an overnight fix for us. When I took over we were bottom of the league, and Covid saved us. We’ve had to start from scratch to build a squad, build a culture, and that’s been the most important thing – bringing the club together.”

Club chair Gareth Ashman agreed and pointed to the fact that 95% of the first team are homegrown and have gone through the Caerphilly system.

Ashman said: “The biggest thing, I think, has been the engagement all the way through from the transition from the minis, to the juniors, and from the youth to the seniors.

“When the minis and juniors have their presentations, the seniors are involved and present the trophies.

“We’ve got 60 senior players, and our second team has been really strong this year, all pushing for places so the boys are looking over their shoulders and are not assured of a position.”

Success for the first XV in the league has also been accompanied with cup success. Caerphilly will meet St Albans in the WRU Division 2 Cup Final at Rodney Parade on May 11 and the Mid District Cup Final against Llantwit Fardre on May 17 at Sardis Road.

Recent changes to the coaching set-up have had impact with Ollie Hughes overseeing defence and Fijian international Niko Matawalu bringing a different dimension in attack – as well as continuing as a player on the field.

Watkins said: “We had a goal at the start of the season that we wanted to win the league unbeaten and we wanted to get to a final.

“When we achieved promotion a couple of weeks ago and when we achieved the cup final we sort of said ‘Right, how do we want to approach things?’ and the boys had a bit of confidence and said ‘We don’t want to lose’.

Next season Caerphilly will be playing in Division 1 East Central and have aspirations to eventually join Bargoed, Cross Keys, Newbridge, and possibly Bedwas, in the Premiership.

There has also been cup success for the club’s second XV, which will meet Llantwit Fardre in the Rhondda and East Glamorgan Mel Davies Cup Final on May 16 at Sardis Road, while the youth team will play Pontypool Utd in the Dragon’s Plate final on the same day, but at Newport’s Rodney Parade.

Meanwhile the under 16s team will also play Pontypool Utd in their Mid District Dragons Cup Final on May 17 at Rodney Parade.