Bargoed visited the Talbot Athletic Ground on Saturday to take on Aberavon RFC in a Principality Premiership tie, looking to build on their positive performance at Llanelli.
It was Aberavon who took the lead first after a good build up they stretched the Bulls defence and managed to score wide out with a try from centre Joe Gage.
Bargoed were struggling to gain parity up front with a struggling scrum but their work in defence and the loose was excellent.
A skirmish saw the riot act read to the sides and when both captains Rhys Morgan and James Garland got involved both had yellow cards. Bargoed lost hooker Rhys Buckley to injury and Wade Langley took the field after 20 minutes.
The Wizards that scored next when Bargoed conceded a penalty, and scrum half Rhodri Cole punished them with three points to lead 8-0.
Bargoed managed to get into the visitors territory and after good work by Ashley Norton, live wire back rower Callum Davies was on hand to score. Josh Prosser converted to make it 8-7 at the break.
The second half saw Aberavon continue to dominate both territory and possession as the Bargoed set piece struggled. Bargoed conceded a penalty near their 10m line and Aberavon kicked to the corner and drove the line out but The Bulls repelled their attack. However at the scrum Aberavon got the drive on and Bargoed conceded another penalty and then a penalty try to take the score to 15-7.
Bargoed made some changes with Jordan Purcell, Adam Coupe and Adam Powell joint the fray, but Purcell was injured in a tackle and after a 15 minute delay he left the field.
Aberavon increased the lead when Bargoed infringed at a scrum and James Garland kicked the penalty to make it 18-7.
Bargoed lost prop John Lavender to a yellow card and in the last few minutes as they were chasing the game they conceded an interception try by Andrew Waite, converted by Garland to make the final score 25-7.
Bargoed will need to tighten up their set piece for the visit of RGC 1404 on Friday evening, and improve their accuracy in attack. Although they were on the wrong end of the score line there were some positives as they showed great spirit, and in particular their work rate and organisation in defence with The Wizards having close to 70% of the possession.
The game against RGC on Friday kicks off at 7.15 pm at Bargoed Park.
