It was only the 1st XV in action on Saturday with an early kick off at Cardiff Met RFC.

Bargoed were looking to get back on track after a loss last time out, in what is an incredibly competitive league.

Bargoed had some early pressure and hooker Jonny Wright burrowed over for a try with 6 minutes on the clock.

Cardiff Met had more possession than the Bulls but the defence and work rate off the ball was excellent, and Bargoed’s line remained intact.

Bargoed managed to get into the Met 22 and they remained patient as Jonny Wright got his second touchdown from close range and Bargoed led 10-0 with 18 minutes gone.

The physicality from both sides was impressive with some big shots in defence and hotly contested contact area battles.

The Met managed to get into the Bargoed 22 but the defence was well organised and solid and the Bulls managed to repel the attack.

Bargoed scrambled in defence and managed to get the ball up field and a good chase from Dylan Williams and Charlie Williams put the Met under pressure.

Bargoed kept that pressure on and this resulted in a penalty being awarded and Daf Rees crashed over for the third try after 32 minutes and Bargoed led 15-0 at half time.

Cardiff Met started the second half well, scoring a converted try with 48 minutes gone to close the gap to 15-7.

The students now had real momentum and they kicked a penalty to make it 15-10 with 55 minutes gone.

Bargoed remained composed though, and looked as though they had the students penned in their 22 with a clever kick, but poor defence enabled them to get out of jail and threaten Bargoed’s line at the other end.

Great work by Dylan Williams in getting a jackal penalty stopped that momentum as the students were penalised.

Bargoed made a number of changes in this high octane game on a fast track artificial surface.

Bargoed continued to play with real tempo with the back three looking dangerous with the ball in their hands.

Good work by Charlie Williams looked like Daf Rees would score but he was cruelly denied right on the try line.

Bargoed were now stretching the students and some great attacking play saw Charlie Williams also go close to scoring as Bargoed turned the heat up on the Met.

Bargoed remained patient in attack and there was some individual brilliance from young outside half Will Ford. He spotted some space behind the defensive line and scored a try getting over with an audacious a chip and chase.

Matthew Lewis converted and Bargoed led by 12 points.

The Met tried to break the Bulls defensive line but Bargoed stayed strong and worked hard and ended with a bonus point 22-10 win.

The coaching staff will be pleased by the impact of the bench particularly Jason James who carried well in the latter stages. It was also great to see Greg Callow come off the bench rolling back the years.

Greg has recently converted to prop having played many times for Bargoed over the years, predominantly as an outside half or centre.

The coaching staff will be pleased with this performance against a well organised and physical outfit. The defensive effort was outstanding with Bargoed only conceding one try.

Next up for the 1st XV is Merthyr RFC at home on 6 December and the Warriors travel to play Beddau in the National Division 5 Cup the same day.