On a wet and windy Saturday, Cardiff RFC made their way down the M4 to the Brewery field to face Bridgend Ravens for the first time in 27 months.
Storm Eunice had an impact right from kick off with the first 10 minutes being affected by the conditions with neither team being able to take hold of the game or the ball with several knock on’s meaning there was a slow start to this encounter. Cardiff did put on some early pressure, several penalties kicked into the corner but sadly on the first occasions these were either lost in the lineout or in the wind.
Shortly after this Cardiff were held up over the line, playing with an advantage we called for a scrum from which some brilliant quick hands from the backs saw Theo Cabango slide over in the corner for the games opening score, conversion was missed on this occasion.
A few minutes later a fantastic break from Evan Yardley saw him slice the Ravens defence in half and race through but again on this occasion the ball was turned over and Bridgend cleared their lines. Cardiff was forced into an early change with Ioan Evans being replaced in the centre by Harrison James. Cardiff then set up camp inside the Bridgend 22, in the end getting our reward for patience as Jacob Beetham slid over for our second try which he also converted taking the score to 12-0.
For the next 10 minuets the game was played along the halfway line with neither team being able to break down the opposition defences, Fish tried his best kicking a wonderful 50-22 into the Ravens 22 but on this occasion it came to nothing. From the clearing kick Bridgend quickly regained possession and powered over for their first score of the afternoon making the score at the break Bridgend 5- 12 Cardiff.
The second half started the same as the first with both sets of sides trying to keep hold of the ball and work out the ever-changing breeze that descended over the pitch. Some good Cardiff line breaks saw us gain good territory and positions, but the Bridgend defence kept strong.
A game of kicking tennis kicked off between minutes 50-55 with both sides showing some lovely kicking abilities before eventually Theo Cabango took hold of the ball turned on the pace and ran down the line past the Bridgend defence before offloading to Max Llewellyn for the visitors third try of the afternoon. Cardiff made more substitutions, Alex Everett, Dan Preece, Llyr Green, Rory Harries and Kieron Azzerati entering the field with Hudd, Toms, Drake, Lloyd and Yardley departing.
For the rest of the game Bridgend set up camp inside the Cardiff half, piling on pressure and trying every way to break down the Cardiff defence the Blue and Blacks held strong. Winning a turnover, the kicking down the field our first attack of the last quarter saw Gwilym Bradley power over for our bonus point try. Final Cardiff change saw Jack Maynard enters the field replacing Fish. Bridgend won a penalty straight from kick off and kicked into our 22, eventually pressure told, and Bridgend pushed over for their second try of the game.
Finally, a lovely Cardiff break into the 22 saw Bridgend knock on in a tackle, from the base of the resulting scrum Rory Harries saw his chance and skipped through under the posts for the game’s final score taking the result to Cardiff 29-Bridgend 12.
Post Match Interview
Theo Cabango
