RGC 26 Newport 41
Saturday 5th April 2025
RGC and Newport swapped scores in the first half, it was Newport that pulled away in the last 25 minutes, where they ran in 4 tries and left Stadiwm CSM with the win.
In a tight first half, it was RGC that opened the scoring after putting pressure on the visitors line, the ball was fired out to Caio Parry who went in in the corner. Billy McBryde split the sticks with the conversion.
There was then spell of consistent pressure and when RGC winger Rhys Tudor was shown a yellow card, Newport to took a 14-7 lead with tries from Henry Palmer and Jac Lloyd who also fired overt the conversions.
McBryde hit a penalty to close the gap to 4 points.
It was an arm wrestle around the breakdown and set piece, but when RGC won a turnover over Rhys Tudor powered down the wing before scrum half Connor Dever crossed the whitewash. McBryde was successful with the conversion.
Just before half-time Newport took the lead with the try from winger Iestyn Galton and again Lloyd was on target with the extras.
The second half began brightly with a McBryde penalty closing the gap to one point.
The RGC scrum began to dominate, and the penalties came, McBryde had an opportunity from distance but it dropped just short.
The game became pretty loose with the referee's whistle becoming more prevalent.
A couple of sparks from RGC, one from Dion Jones who managed to collect a kick which looked like it was finding touch, and we ran down the wing, before a clever chip kick from McBride bounced the wrong way as Caio Parry sprinted to collect.
The Gogs were having good possession moving the ball through hands as they tried to get the next score, and it arrived with McBride hitting a penalty that skimmed the post and bounced over.
That lead was short-lived with two tries and as many minutes as they found space wide, with both wingers in space and scoring, First from Oli Andrews, and then Iestyn Galton with a Lloyd conversion. That lead was made in the 56 minute and Newport never looked back from that point in the game.
With every score important for playoff positioning, RGC grabbed another penalty from McBryde and made it a 5-point deficit. From the restart RGC didn’t get hands on the ball, which proved crucial. Newport got the line-out and Carl Foster Smith went in for the try,
As the clock ticked down, Lloyd ran a good line to take the pass and end the game with another score.
DOR Josh Leach " It was another frustrating result, when you look at the opening half against the wind, we played well. You saw us react to the loose balls, the 50/50s and in many ways were on top.
We got those penalties to take the lead in the 2nd half, and then restarts lost us momentum, and they then go over for 2 soft tries. From that, we lost control and lost our discipline. We needed to spend more time there 22, and build that pressure with the wind with us.
It's another frustrating result, after playing well for 60 minutes"
Follow us:
