Ystrad Rhondda RFC 15 Bedwas RFC 17

WRU Admiral Championship (East), Saturday 09 March 2024.

Match report and photography by Ian Lovell.

 Ystrad came close to snatching the victory late on in the game as Bedwas clung on for a valuable win which, on balance, having never been behind the contest was deserved.

Both sides took time to settle but it appeared Bedwas had taken an early lead, but the referee was unsighted to see Max Rivers ground the ball and therefore could not award it. Instead Bedwas were awarded a five-metre scrum as the referee believed Rivers to be short of the line. The attack fizzled out.

Bedwas took the lead just after the halfway mark of the half courtesy of a James Dixon penalty after the home side were penalised at a line-out.

Four minutes later after a patient build up from the restart good hands put Dale Rogers into a gap and he powered over for a try, Dixon added the extras.

Ystrad came storming back and were rewarded with a try by front rower Tom Stacey, Rhys Truelove added the extras.

Shortly afterwards the home side were down to fourteen men following second rower Thomas John’s yellow card for a high tackle.

Bedwas replaced Brynley Toms with Ben Drew at the start of the second half.

Aaron Billingham showed good pace to extend Bedwas’ lead eight minutes into the half as he crossed out wide. James Dixon added the extras from the acute angle and Bedwas were ten points ahead.

A further penalty by Truelove reduced the Bedwas advantage to seven points but Bedwas bought on fresh legs to replace those that were tiring.

Lewis David was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock on and shortly afterwards the home side were next on the scoreboard as replacement Rhys Dauncey crossed for a try in the corner. Rhys Truelove missed the conversion and Bedwas could breathe again with a two-point advantage going into the final ten minutes of the game.

With one minute of the game left to play Hamish Anderson was penalised at a ruck and sent to the sin bin. Rhys Truelove a prolific points scorer for his club over the years had the opportunity to nudge his side ahead for the first time but fortunately for Bedwas his penalty kick drifted across the posts.

There was still time for Ystrad to launch a final assault on the Bedwas line but once again Bedwas were fortunate for an error from the home side. With the Bedwas line in sight a home centre elected to throw a pass to his right winger which didn’t go to hand when he looked in a better position to score himself.

The final whistle followed immediately and Bedwas were relieved to claim a ‘double’ of victories this season over a tough Rhondda side who be ruing those expensive errors.

Bedwas are back in action on Saturday 23 March as they travel to Newbridge RFC to face Bargoed RFC in the semifinal of the WRU Challenge Cup.

Images from today’s game can be found at: Bedwas RFC’s albums | Flickr