Beddau RFC 32 Bedwas RFC 20.
WRU Admiral Championship East, Saturday 26th April 2025.
Match report and photography by Ian Lovell.
Bedwas’s hopes of promotion back to the WRU Community Premiership took a severe jolt as Beddau snatched a bonus point win giving Bedwas a mountain to climb to achieve top place on the league table.
On a mild late April afternoon at a packed-out Mount Pleasant Park both sides took time to settle it was Bedwas with the advantage of the slope who scored first with Luke Crane diving in through a gap in the home defence to open the scoring. Lloyd Wilkins added the extras.
Both sides were unable to conjure up any further scoring chances until the thirty sixth minute when Beddau finished off a flowing move with an unconverted try by James Davies.
Bedwas had the last say of the half courtesy of a Lloyd Wilkins penalty goal from the halfway line.
The second half did not start well for Bedwas as within two minutes Beddau’s Ollie Wilde kicked a penalty goal after Bedwas were penalised for a ruck offence.
Bedwas’s cause was not helped by a yellow card issued to Jake Lee after eight minutes, the home side taking full advantage of the numerical advantage to score an unconverted try from a rolling maul by Ethan Coombes converted by Wilde.
Just after the halfway mark Lloyd Wilkins reduced the deficit with a penalty goal, but Bedwas relief was short-lived as a scrum penalty was converted by Wilde one minute later.
Lloyd Wilkins missed a penalty chance following a high tackle, but Bedwas continued to battle away and were rewarded with a try by Jordan Rogers converted by Lloyd Wilkins to edge two points ahead.
Urged on by their vociferous support Beddau upped the ante and took the lead with a try from a scrum by outside centre Tyler Wells. There appeared to be a blatant knock on at the scrum, but the referee was unsighted and therefore unable to penalise, and the try stood. This statement is not intended as criticism of the match official but underlines the difficult job a sole official has.
With the clock running down Bedwas tried to rescue something from the game but unfortunately lost possession leading to a loose ball allowing right wing man Evan Roberts to run in for their fourth and bonus point winning try, depriving Bedwas of a losing bonus point at the same time. Wilde added the extras as the home crowd erupted with joy and Bedwas were left to rue what might have been.
Bedwas are next in action on Thursday 1st May as we travel to Talywain for the penultimate game of the season. Nothing less than a bonus point win will increase Bedwas’s hopes of winning the title which although looking a tall order, a slim hope remains.
The match image gallery is at: Bedwas RFC’s albums | Flickr
