Bargoed 17 – 16 Newport
Saturday January 7, Bargoed
Bargoed signed off the first half of the Principality Premiership season with a three-tries-to-one victory over Newport as the division splits into two with the formation of two conferences of eight.
Both teams will be in the lower half of the Premiership and on this showing, Newport will not relish meeting the Bulls again soon.
The closeness of the final score flattered the away side as Bargoed created momentum following an opening twenty minute spell which saw both defences very much on top. Newport edged in front courtesy of a Matt O’Brien penalty after six minutes.
The game sprung into life just before the half-hour, with Bargoed prop Keiron Brown going close before a stunning break by Darren Humphries put winger Ashley Norton away, but he couldn’t hold on to the pass.
Norton made amends moments later, taking a high kick from fullback James Hallet and passing to fellow winger Dai Evans. Evans was held up short, and the cavalry arrived with flanker Lewis Weyman going over from short range. Hallet converted superbly from the touchline to make it 7-3 and it stayed that way until the interval.
Bargoed lost fly-half Julian Mogg to injury in the second half, and Hallet moved to 10 with Norton filling in at fullback.
Newport’s Rhodri Jones was shown a yellow card by referee Gwyn Morris for a punch on 50 minutes and numbers were evened up six minutes later with a yellow for Bargoed flanker Adam Coupe for a reckless tackle. O’Brien kicked the resulting penalty to narrow the gap to just a point and edged the Black and Ambers further ahead on the hour with another penalty to make it 7-9.
The Bulls were still down a man when they took the lead, as Darren Humphries seized on a chargedown and superbly fed second-row James Locke, the ball was quickly recycled and Evans finished well to put Bargoed 12-9 up with 64 minutes gone.
Shortly after, the Newport scrum was under pressure just inside their half. No8 Rhys Jenkins managed to get the ball away, but aggressive midfield tackling saw the ball fall to Humphries who fed Evans for his second try. Hallet again kicked well from the touchline but hit the upright – 17-9 to the Bulls with seven minutes left.
The visitors threw the kitchen sink at the Bargoed line but the Bulls held out and cleared to the half way.
A silly penalty allowed Newport to gain field position and this time they made it count with flanker Rhodri Jones going over and O’Brien adding the extras. There was still time for a restart and with the Black and Ambers chasing an unlikely win, it made for a tense finish but Bargoed held out and the game finished 17-16, lifting the home side off the bottom of the table.
• Match report by Peter Greening of Bargoed RFC.