The famous club found themselves a distant second best to the pretenders from the small village club who dominated the match.
Bedwas head coach Steve Law wasn’t too far off the truth when he reckoned the hosts could have won by a “cricket score” had they capitalised on their sizeable advantage for the majority of play.
The visitors were blown away in the second half, despite taking a 16-15 lead after 46 minutes. It was as good as it got for the Black and Ambers and their frustrated forwards coach Dai Gray said after the match: “We were hugely disappointing in the contact area – we were completely outmuscled – and we just couldn’t build any pressure. We’ve got a big game next week against Llanelli, but they are all turning into big games for us now.”
By contrast a delighted Law said: “I think we completely dominated the game and outscoring them five tries to one tells the story. Had we taken all our opportunities, it could have been a cricket score.”
The opening exchanges had been fairly equal, the deadlock broken by Newport full back Geraint O’Driscoll who put his side ahead after seven minutes with a penalty.
The hosts started to get the upper hand and they pressed their territorial advantage when hooker Aun Rees crashed over from a driving lineout for an unconverted score. Their lead was short-lived however as O’Driscoll hit back for the Black and Ambers with a fine penalty from the 40 metre line after 20 minutes. He put them 9-5 up just short of the half-hour mark with another sweetly struck three-pointer.
The game had failed to ignite, partly down to the miserable weather which made handling a struggle, as both sides made basic errors. But it was an excellent try with lovely handling that saw outside centre Mike Callow cross for the hosts’ second unconverted try after a cute pass by Rees.
The visitors lost loosehead prop James Greenfield to the sin bin in the 33rd minute after referee Owain Griffith lost patience with Newport for their stream of penalties. The Bridge Field outfit soon made the Black and Ambers pay when Maynard crossed for another unconverted try as the home side exploited their 14-man opponents. The half ended with Bedwas 15-9 in the lead but they should have been further ahead after missing five shots at goal.
A fine individual try by scrum half Owen Davies from a quick tap penalty at the start of the second half saw Newport regain the lead when O’Driscoll converted. That was as good as it got for Newport as Bedwas completely bossed things from there on.
They finally got the upper hand only late on when wing Rory Budina finished well for their fourth bonus point try, well converted by replacement outside half Richard Powell to make it 22-16 in their favour.
Newport hooker Dale Rogers was yellow carded with six minutes left for infringing at a ruck five metres from his own line. Bedwas again made them pay for being a man down, wing Mathew John crossing for a try in the corner as the home side’s backs used their overlap effectively, Powell converting from the touchline. Bedwas only broke through in the final 15 minutes but they were far more convincing winners than their 14-point margin would suggest.
