Newbridge 16 v Beddau 03

Buoyed by our recent success against UWIC, we entertained Beddau Friday on a frosty evening at the Welfare ground.

There were a few changes in the Newbridge side, with Wayne Sims and Luke James slotting into the starting fifteen. After a bright start we were awarded a penalty that was cooly slotted from 25 meters by centre Shaun Thomas.

From the restart Beddau replied with a penalty in front of the posts to make it all square at 3 a piece. Whilst Newbridge were dominating territory, chances were few and far between. A further well struck penalty from Shaun Thomas made it 6-3 after 30 minutes. However, on the stroke of half time, a Beddau mix up led to a fine Tom Edwards dash, which was finished off in style in the corner by impressive openside Martin Ackerman. Shaun Thomas converted superbly from the touchline to leave the half time score 13-3.

After the restart, Beddau applied a lot of pressure on the Newbridge line, however some superb defense from Rhys Bowen and David Ford kept Beddau at bay. Beddau were then down to 14 men after further indiscipline. With Newbridge camped in the Beddau half, some strong scrummaging from the Newbridge pack was beginning to take its toll. Credit to Beddau though who were still pressing in the dying minutes.

Another excellent performance by a committed Newbridge side with flanker Martin Ackerman picking up the man of the match award. Team Manager Chris Jones was delighted with the home success, he added, “things are moving in the right direction and much of the recent turnaround can be put down to the hard work of the players. Training numbers have been excellent, and all of the squad are buying into the new coaches.”

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In a re-arranged game from earlier this year, we entertain Caerphilly on Wednesday evening, KO at 7.15pm