BEDLINOG FEBRUARY 12TH
WELCOME TO THE DAIRYFIELD
Croeso I Maes Llaethdy
I would like to extend a warm welcome to the players, coaches, officials and supporters of Bedlinog RFC to the Dairyfield for tonight’s SWALEC Division 1 East league game.
It took several inspections before Darren Jones ruled our field playable against Newbridge, the go ahead not coming until 2.05pm, which was not the best preparation for the two sides.
However, after so many weeks without a game, our boys put on a powerful display against opponents who had enjoyed the advantage of a mid week game. Our management had pulled out all the stops to keep the squad up to match fitness during the lay off and it showed.
Conditions turned out to be difficult but it was credit to our team that after a bit of the understandable rust had worn off we played some great rugby. The forwards made sure that Newbridge didn’t profit from their early ascendancy with good defensive work, our new signing Dave Smith showing up well, while the backs opened up to good effect after half time, that Paul Adams try as good as any you’ll see.
Newbridge came to us third in the table and although Bedlinog are at the other end we can expect no less than a tough battle tonight. They showed their spirit up there on the opening day when, with passionate village support, they battled hard before going down 25-15. Tonight’s game is important to both sides, if for contrasting reasons, so a keen encounter should keep the crowd on its toes.
Not that night time games are a preference – but we have no option other than to play them while we catch up on games. Every club treasurer will tell you it’s the Saturday matches that bring the money in.
Well done also to Seconds and Youth for some good wins lately. I watched the Youth against Pentyrch last week and saw some brilliant rugby befitting the tradition of this great club.
Finally a warm welcome to our sponsors Service Control and also Gary Davies our referee. It will be Gary’s third successive attempt to get one of our league matches started, having had charge of the original fixture as well as the Rumney wash out, so let’s hope he succeeds tonight.

Adrian Tattersall,
Chairman


BITS OF BLACK AND BLUE

Some funny old results at the top end of the table recently - and they’ve not done us any harm. We played our own part against Newbridge of course. They were winners up there in the autumn, but boy did we put that one straight! Coming after six consecutive action-less weekends it was all the more impressive and, for Gar Eddy’s pack, brought full restoration of bragging rights after an unusually off key day in Gwent. Molly and Lloydy would have enjoyed that, and Dennis was certainly smiling to see the backs play with a bit of width when the opportunity arose. That second half performance was so dominant, the sort of thing that sends you off to sleep a happy man – whitewashing a team is always special. But we’re never complacent about these things – that’s now history, and tonight we have a different challenge with Bedlinog flat out to keep themselves away from the relegation places. They have given just about everyone a tough game this year, including Cardiff in the cup, not to mention ourselves on the opening day. We are going to need a big effort to get a win that, whisper it, could actually move us up to second place. But our coaches don’t like us talking about league tables, so we’ll just get on with the business!

Our visit to Rumney turned out to be an interesting afternoon, or part of one! There were different opinions about whether the pitch was playable, and it was strange to stand in warm spring like sunshine after all the weather we’d had in the previous month and be told the game was off. But one of our front row said it wasn’t possible to scrummage in part of the field the ref was unhappy about. Nor was Gary Davies the match official happy about Rumney’s request to switch the game to a parks pitch on the far side of the playing fields. Now that was an interesting one as, I believe, it was a council pitch and all games on that area had been postponed the previous day. Unhappy too were one or two in the Rumney camp at Mr Davies’s refusal to entertain the suggestion. But as the Tonyrefail man explained, in this day and age WRU refs have no alternative but to play it by the book. The allotted field was unfit so end of story. Imagine if someone ingested a lung full of water with dire consequences as a result of a collapsed scrum - he was the one who would be on the carpet had he agreed to play against his better judgement. So it was a quick change back into civvies for the players, a call to the bus company and a return to base in time to see some of the Seconds and Youth play. And we had a bit of a sing song on the way back with president Mog going through his whole repertoire. Gotta stay cheerful, haven’t you!

PEN PICTURE
This week it’s another summer signing and one who has made a success of it with well over a hundred points to date –a strong pedigree too with dad Paul once a class act at the Arms Park and a regular at our games
Codey Rees
Age: 21 Height: 6ft Weight: 13.10 Job: economist
Rugby highlight of your career: Playing on the Arms Park in the Welsh Varsity match for Cardiff University in front of 9,500 people
Favourites:
Rugby team (other than Llan): Wales; Rugby player: Dan Carter;
Sportsperson most admired outside rugby: Tiger Woods;
TV: Only Fools and Horses; Food: Steak; Drink: Jack Daniels and coke;
Holiday: Cancun; Car: Audi A3; Film: Liar, Liar.



What happened when we faced each other on the opening day?
Swalec One East
Sept 5th 2009 Bedlinog 15 Llanharan 25 (HT3-10)
It was a nitty gritty old struggle at Bedlinog, but we got the win to boost confidence at the start of a new campaign. The home side were clearly fired up for their first division debut and got stuck in no uncertain manner. However, both sides were guilty of numerous mistakes that restricted momentum, a source of constant frustration for the crowd. But we always had the individuals likely to break the dour deadlock and so it showed as we collected three tries out of nothing and led 25-3 entering the last quarter. A tense finish was to follow though, as referee Martyn Lewis eventually reacted to the simmering tension that had characterised a number of exchanges by pulling out the cards. And we were the ones who suffered. First replacement Dafydd Morris was shown the yellow after just ten minutes on the pitch, then prop replacement Ed Rees was given a red after retaliating for what he adjudged to be some very ungentlemanly treatment. It was a pleasing win in view of our inclusion of seven new faces in the starting line up and three on the bench.
Ross Pearce; Dorian Thomas, Dai Atkins, Elliott Foils, Paul Adams, Codey Rees, Glen Holloway, James Greenfield, Nathan Huish, Aled Richards, Gareth Edwards (Capt.), Lee Davies, Nikki Allen, Glenn Slater, Justin Jones.
Replacements (used): Neil Dallymore, Dafydd Morris, Ed Rees, Sam Studley; (unused): Aaron Griffin.
Scores: Bedlinog tries: Craig Anthony; Geraint Edmunds. Con and pen: Ben Grzseica.
Llanharan tries: Glen Holloway 2, Justin Jones. Con (2) and pen (2): Codey Rees.
In the world of Welsh coaching, not just rugby, it doesn’t come much bigger than to receive the Sports Council of Wales Coach of the Year award. And it was Paul, the son of our coach Dennis, who was so honoured a few months back, recognising not just his work with Wales Sevens but also Pontypridd. As a former colleague of Paul’s I can testify to his early ability in that field as he wielded his influence with the lads at our school (Martin Williams and Ceri Sweeney just two to benefit). Of course there are many similarities with dad. Both top flight scrum halves, (What do you mean Mickey Mouse could have played behind that championship pack at Pontypool in the Sixties!!), both coaches at Sardis Road, and both in the Wales set up. It’s clearly in the genes and we ask ourselves will Paul eventually reach the pinnacle of his career and follow in father’s footsteps to the Dairyfield!!
And the small group within our fraternity who have taken every opportunity to slate the coaches and team over recent seasons, although they have been unsurprisingly quiet for some time now, should get their heads around this story. Inquiring as to why we were getting a coach and players from Caerphilly one of those self same personnel gave me the answer – whether as player or coach, to learn from Dennis’s vast experience and skill. Most of us, of course, didn’t need telling that.

The old touch line wit is as alive and well the Second XV games as anywhere. In a match against Llantrisant the visitors were taking an eternity to throw the ball in prompting our Sponsorship Sec to shout “Come on Llantrisant, some of us have got to go to work in the morning”. Well, what he calls work anyway!

Elsewhere today in Swalec One East:


Rumney v Caerphilly


SPOTLIGHT ON BEDLINOG
It is amazing to learn that our visitors today were playing in Division Seven East back in 1999-2000 and perhaps even more surprising to discover that the Bedlinog club was only formed in 1971 by a local youth club, which was at the time organised by Welsh international Steve Fenwick. By then the likes of ourselves had been running for eighty years or more. It has been a story of remarkable success, the club doing well in the local set up but also making its mark in cup competitions. The Keith Jones cup was won in 1973, 1978 and 1988. But of even higher status was the Welsh Districts cup which was won in 1988 and 1998. That former success was the key to admission to the WRU the following year.
In the national leagues it has been a story of almost unbroken achievement. 2006/07 saw an undefeated season that brought the Division Four South East title and the following year the Three South East title was won. Nor was division two to present an insurmountable challenge, as the team lead by flanker Carl Giles finished runners up to Tredegar to earn the right to a place in Swalec One East. They were nine points clear of Mountain Ash in third place, but trailed Tredegar by ten points in the final count. However, they showed the champions a thing or two by thumping them 48-0 at home in April, a month that also saw a 98-14 win at Fleur de Lys. Beating tem in the Swalec Cup last weekend must also have given them pleasure.
But the “Foxes” as they are known have, like others before, have found the first division a tough prospect and wins hard to come by. There’s no shortage of spirit in this club based at the Square in the village as we found up there on the opening day, and they completed the double over Merthyr last time out while Caerphilly (11-5 A) have also been beaten. And it’s worth noting that all the defeats have been anything but one sided – they even gave Cardiff a hell of a game at the Arms Park in the Swalec Cup before losing 7-3.

SUPPORTERS NEWS AND VIEWS
How many of us wanted to kill Alun Wyn Jones on Saturday? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if we all did. But never mind, we lost; I’ll take it on the chin because I strongly believe that we need to help these under developed rugby nations.

A warm welcome to our visitors today. I’m rather glad that you are making the journey down here this evening, because I have no doubt that it will be a lot colder up with you. I know that this might well be your first visit to the Dairy Field but whether it is or not, I hope that you have a fantastic welcome and join us for a pint or two after the match!
We too were once robbed by Cardiff in the cup so I’m sure that we all can find something to talk about

Rugby Trivia
The 2003 Rugby World Cup had a global cumulative audience of 3.5 billion, and was broadcast in 205 countries around the world.
The most points that have ever been scored against a team at a World Cup is 145 by New Zealand in a match against Japan in 1995. New Zealand scored 21 tries in that match.
The widest winning margin in a World Cup match is 142, achieved by Australia against Namibia in 2003.
England prop Jason Leonard made a record 22 appearances, and featured in four World Cups from 1991 to 2003.
The first non-southern hemisphere country to win the world cup was England in 2003


Pob lwc Llan
Beth

SWALEC ONE EAST 2009/10

Team P W D L F A BP Pts
UWIC 13 12 0 1 344 159 6 54
Bargoed 12 9 0 3 306 190 6 42
Newbridge 12 9 0 3 294 228 5 41
LLANHARAN 11 8 0 3 296 181` 5 37
Blackwood 11 7 0 4 291 177 7 35
Rumney 10 5 0 5 222 212 7 27
Merthyr 13 5 0 8 254 299 4 24
Tredegar 12 3 0 9 198 294 6 18
Ystrad R 11 3 0 8 222 314 4 16
BEDLINOG 10 3 0 7 142 165 4 16
Caerphilly 11 3 0 8 184 357 2 14
Beddau 12 2 0 10 156 335 3 11

PLAYER APPEARANCES 2009/10 (league max 11)
Player total
league starts as rep
points
tries
con
pen
dg
Cup
Foils.E 11 11 0 5 1 0 0 0 1
Rees.C 11 11 0 114 1 23 20 0 1(2c2p)
Adams.P 11 10 0 35 7 0 0 0 0
Holloway.G 11 10 1 20 4 0 0 0 1
Huish.N 11 10 1 5 1 0 0 0 1r
Edwards.G 11 7 4 5 1 0 0 0 1
Greenfield.J 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Jones.J 10 10 0 5 1 0 0 0 1r
Davies Lee 10 9 1 5 1 0 0 0 1
Richards.A 11 6 5 0 0 0 0 0 1r
Connors.J 10 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Studley. S 10 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
Slater.G 9 9 0 15 3 0 0 0 0
Dallimore.N 9 8 1 20 4 0 0 0 0
Atkins.D 6 5 1 5 1 0 0 0 0
Thomas.D 5 5 0 20 4 0 0 0 1
Pinches.A 5 5 0 20 4 0 0 0 1(1t)
Thorne.L 5 5 0 15 3 0 0 0 1(1t)
Allen.N 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1
Pearce R 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Griffin.A 4 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
Morris.D 4 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1r
Myatt.J 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Payne.C 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jones.G 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Llewellyn.A 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Jervis.W 2 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 1
Burton.C 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Phillips. M 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rees E 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0