Bargoed got back to winning ways in the Swalec Championship with a deserved but hard fought away win at a wet and windy Mount Pleasant Park on December 12.
Beddau played down the slope and with the wind in an uneventful first half hour and managed to grind out a 6-0 lead from the boot of outside half Sam Withers. The opening try came after 34 minutes.
Bargoed captain Leigh Meades tapped a quick penalty and set centre Lewis Protheroe free. He was tackled illegally and Matthew Hurley put a squiffy kick to within ten metres for a Blues line out. Nicky Coughlin caught in the middle of the line out and was driven towards the line. The maul was brought down and Cardiff referee Owain Griffiths went under the posts for a penalty try. Hurley added the extras to make it 6-7 but a penalty from the restart allowed Withers to edge Beddau back in front at 9-7.
Beddau were reduced to 14 with a yellow card to prop Owen Cotton and Bargoed took full advantage. A break from scrum half Matthew Hutcheon took Bargoed close to the Beddau line. Bargoed were penalised but referee Griffiths reversed the penalty for a home side retaliation. Meades called a scrum and although it was reset twice the pressure finally told and Hutcheon fed wing Gareth Dare to cross for the second try. Hurley ‘s conversion was blown off course and the half time whistle went at 9-12.
Bargoed had the wind and slope advantage in the second half and had much the better of both possession and territory but failed to make it count on the scoreboard. They didn’t make it easy for themselves going down to 13 men at one point with both Kieron Brown and Ross Coombes in the bin. They never looked in danger of losing the game but there was still only three points in it. The travelling supporters’ nerves were finally settled 2 minutes into time added on with a second try for Gareth Dare converted by Hurley to end the game 9-19.
Match report by Peter Greening of Bargoed RFC