Bargoed travelled to face Swansea at a wet and windy St. Helens, looking for a place in the Quarter Finals of the WRU National Cup.
Swansea had use of the strong wind and took advantage early on to apply pressure on the Bulls.
When Bargoed conceded a breakdown penalty the All Whites looked as though they were going to kick for goal but quick thinking saw them take a quick tap and hooker Ifan Phillips was on hand to score the only try of the game which was converted by Steff Williams.
Bargoed did manage to get into the Swansea 22 for the first time after 15 minutes but they conceded a scrum penalty and ended up back in their own half. Swansea looked like they were going to score but good work in defence by the visitors forced them to lose the ball over the try line.
The strong wind made it difficult for Bargoed to make any headway and it was Swansea who dominated territorially as the visitors conceded a series of scrum penalties. Swansea converted one of these into points with Williams slotting it, and they led 10-0 at half time.
Bargoed had the wind in the second half but within three minutes Ben Fry was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle.
Swansea then managed to get a position in the Bargoed 22 and when Bargoed also lost Callum Jones to a yellow card for killing the ball near the Bargoed line, they were down to 13 men.
Bargoed once again struggled with some aimless kicking and didn’t take advantage of the wind early in the second half. However, incredibly the wind then died down 15 minutes in, and that advantage was completely nullified.
The Bulls did have a good opportunity to close the gap with a line out 10 metres out but poor execution resulted in Swansea being let off the hook.
Further yellow cards followed for Louis Blacker and Rhys Buckley as Swansea maintained their composure and ended up victorious in a scrappy affair with no score in the second half it ended 10-0.
Bargoed will be disappointed and frustrated that they were unable to capitalise on an opportunity to progress in the cup. They had defended with great resilience in the first half, with the score at 10-0 into a strong wind. There was a realistic prospect of victory, but the second half performance fell short.
There was plenty of endeavour in difficult conditions but the four yellow cards were killer blows, alongside a poor kicking game and a struggling line-out.
Next week Bargoed entertain Cardiff at home in the Principality Premiership 2.30 pm kick off at Bargoed Park.
