Bridgend 49 RGC 42
Saturday 15th March 2025
Bridgend came out on top, in a game that saw 13 tries and 100% conversion rate from all kickers.
The homeside tested the visitor's defence early with some lineouts, driving close to the line.
That pressure was cranked up when Dion Jones was shown a yellow card on 9 minutes for a deliberate knock-on.
Credit to the Gogs when they won a penalty from the scrum, when the home support were expecting a score to follow.
It was backs to the wall, kicking for territory and chasing as hard as possible for RGC.
As much as Bridgend had possession and found space – RGC were winning turnovers.
With the man advantage, Bridgend worked the ball wide before Callaghan Smith in support was given the ball to run in for the opening try, and he converted it as well.
Minutes later it was a 2nd try, when Smith set up centre Ryan Wilkins to go over and scrum-half Smith added the extras.
With RGC back to 15 men, they replied with a try. Dan Roderick found space before the ball moved to Patrick Nelson, who took the ball and the defence over the whitewash. Dion Jones converted.
RGC worked some good phases with controlled rugby as they edged to the tryline, and finally, Sam Williams found a gap through a layer of Bridgend shirts to put the ball down. Scores were level when Dion Jones converted.
It was an open game, as both sides looked lively with the ball, making good yards with ball in hand and errors costing opportunities.
Having got back in the game, RGC will be disappointed to let the homeside back into the game and regain momentum just before halftime.
Bridgend scored their 3rd try, and yet again, Smith was involved after he offloaded to Zac O’Driscoll to score, with the boot of Smith on target to make it 21-14 at the break.
The score was level again straight from the 2nd half, with a couple of clever offloads from Dion Jones, with the final one setting up Rhys Tudor for the try. From the touchline Jones spilt the posts to hit the conversion.
Scores kept on coming and the homeside went ahead for the 3rd time, when Rowley showed some skill to tap the grubber kick up, collect on the run and score. Smith was on target with the conversion.
It continued to be an open game, and when Dion Jones collected in his own half he spotted space and ran down the field before popping the ball to winger Sam Stoddard who finished. The boot of Jones levelled the score with the extras.
The pace of the game finally slowed on the 60th minute mark, as both sides knew a mistake could be crucial in regard to the score.
If the pace slowed, the points didn’t after some soft hands and quick passes setup Tom Florence to touch down, Howley with the conversion
Sam Williams again managed to get over from close range again, and Jones levelled at 35 all with the extras.
Bridgend found themselves down to 14 men, when they were given a yellow card.
It was a case of rinse and repeat when the homeside broke from halfway and Jake Thomas scored with Howley successful with the kick.
The lead was extended when the Ravens opened up RGC defence and Nash grabbed the crucial try and hit the conversion for a 14-point lead.
Credit to RGC who stayed in the game, and ended the 80 minutes with a try in the corner from Caio Parry and the boot of Dion Jones with another decent conversion from the touchline.
Director of Rugby Josh Leach “I am pretty pleased with the overall performance after a 4 week break especially as it was a makeshift side in parts, with the injuries and unavailable players.
I thought Sam Williams and Charlie Probert had big games, with Rhys Tudur and Harri Hughes also playing well today.
We also had Osain Llewelyn and Morgan Dryhurst Jones making debuts, both from our U18s teams in the past 2 seasons.
The past few weeks we have been working aspects of our game, and you could see that on the field today.”
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