Bargoed 5-16 Llanelli
Saturday October 1, Bargoed Park
Bargoed targeted their game against Llanelli as one to win, with the visitors sitting just above them in 11th position in the Premiership table, but were undone after conceding first-half tries and struggling with discipline.
The Bulls started strongly, but were pegged back by a Dion Jones try after just six minutes as the full-back dummied a pass and crossed in the right hand corner. Billy McBride pulled the conversion just wide.
Once ahead, the visitors never looked like relinquishing their hold on the match, and could have gone further ahead. McBride missed further penalties when presented with the opportunity, while the deadball line came to Bargoed’s rescue following a chargedown.
Despite strong scrummaging and signs of a promising partnership between young half-backs Matt Bancroft and Callum Jones, indiscipline and frequent blasts of referee Aled Jones’ whistle disrupted any possession Bargoed had and made for a frustrating spectacle for those supporters braving the heavy showers.
Bargoed soon paid the price for their constant errors, as Ian Jenkins was yellow carded for a ruck infringement close to their own try-line with five minutes left.
McBride kicked for touch, and while the catch-and-drive was halted, scrum-half Rhodri Cole darted over to score from short range.
McBride’s consistent profligacy continued as a second conversion drifted wide. Dion Jones took over kicking duty and nailed a penalty on the stroke of half-time to give the Llanelli a 13-0 lead.
The second half was a rather more turgid affair, as Bargoed managed a solitary try through David Evans. Llanelli responded through another Jones penalty, as the hosts struggled to fight their way back to a losing bonus point position at 5-16.
Bargoed Chairman Neil Carter summed up the mood in the Bulls’ changing room, saying: “We’re very frustrated with that performance. The penalty count was hugely against us and we’ll need to look very closely at the match analysis to see where the referee was picking us up.
“Our set piece didn’t function in the second half despite us outscoring the opposition. It’s getting very tight in the bottom eight so we’ll want to put things right with another home game next week against Carmarthen Quins.”
• Match report by Peter Greening of Bargoed RFC.