Bedwas RFC 26 Narberth RFC 27
WRU Admiral Championship, Saturday 24th September 2022.
Match report and images by Ian Lovell.
For the second successive home game Bedwas gave themselves a mountain to climb in the second half but this time although hauling back the deficit Narberth fought back to take the honours.
Narberth were first on the scoreboard after 8 minutes. From a scrum forty metres from the Bedwas line a break by livewire scrum half George McDonald was rewarded with a try for the supporting Ilan Phillips. Ianto Griffiths successfully added the extras.
Narberth had an opportunity to increase their lead around the quarter hour mark, but Griffiths’ kick went wide, however just a few minutes later their lead was increased courtesy of a Josh Davies try in the left-hand corner. Griffiths missed the conversion.
Bedwas pulled a try back as Callaghan Smith pulled a try back converted by Lloyd Wilkins before Wilkins himself looked to have crossed the line but the referee deemed he had been held up and ruled the effort out.
Narberth increased their lead after 34 minutes. A scrum on halfway saw the ball picked up by their captain Tom Powell who ran through to touch down under the posts. Griffiths added the conversion.
Griffiths added a second penalty just before the half time whistle to put his side 22-7 ahead at the break. The big question on the lips of every Bedwas supporter was could we see another comeback in the second half?
As the second half began Bedwas made changes. Captain Dale Rogers was replaced by Will Fishlock having rolled his ankle and Tommy Chapman was replaced by Jo Hole.
With thirteen second half minutes elapsed a break by Rhys Hutcherson was finished off by Rhys Morgans, Wilkins missed the conversion.
With twenty minutes of the half played Bedwas made wholesale replacements as Ben Drew, Dylan Morgan and Rhys Jones all entered the fray replacing Ryan Thomas, Callaghan Smith, and Conor Jones-Graves, respectively.
Five minutes later Morgan crossed for his first Bedwas try diving across the line following a Bedwas driving maul. Wilkins successfully converted and Narberth’s lead was a slender two points.
Three minutes later Bedwas took the lead for the first time in the game. Rhys Morgans and Mike Dacey made the hard yards before setting up Aaron Billingham to dive over the line for a try in the right-hand corner. Wilkins successful conversion put Bedwas 26-22 ahead with ten minutes to play.
Narberth refused to lie down and exploited a gap in the Bedwas defence allowing replacement Lewys Gibby the space to cross for a try. The same player was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt, but his side were one point ahead with six minutes left to play.
No further scoring chances were created as Narberth held on to record their first win over Bedwas in seven attempts. Bedwas take two points from the game: for four tries and a losing margin of less than seven points.
Next Saturday Bedwas make the short journey to Beddau RFC.
Images from the game can be found at: Bedwas RFC’s albums | Flickr