Following a magnificent result against Newport last time out, the Dragons were looking to attain their second consecutive league win and to extend their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions. We hosted Bradford-on-Avon in this clash – a type of side we had already experienced twice during this season’s campaign with the two draws against Harlequins. The Senior Men squad also have knowledge of playing Bradford-on-Avon in previous BWWPL seasons, which produced one of the more tighter encounters back in those days - we understood the type of vigorous and physical game they played which had often saw them rise to see us off.
With the first BWWPL victory secured in the Dragons’ previous match, confidence and positivity was high – we had felt the philosophy that we had committed to and applied to our play was finally paying dividends. The team knew the principles of this philosophy had to be reemphasised in this match once again in order to produce another positive performance and result. As ever, the Dragons were instructed to not be drawn into the opposition's highly-physical play, which is what Bradford-on-Avon have tried to use against us in the past and succeeded in doing so. Like against Harlequins, we needed to avoid competing with the opposition’s brute force and focus on controlling proceedings with our own style and strategy.
We started strongly, setting the match at a high intensity as we looked to get an early foothold on the game. We raced into an early lead as we showed promising signs with some compact defending and attacking flare. The away side were struggling to break down our tight-knit defence and could not resist or contain our quick counterattacking movement. However, as the game went on, Bradford-on-Avon showed more spark and began to peg us back as they injected clinical finishing and vigour into their play. The Dragons were getting allured to the physical aspect of play, which is what Bradford-on-Avon would have wanted for them to have a route back into the game. We were at risk of being overpowered by the opposition and letting our precious lead slip. Furthermore, we had numerous unconverted opportunities to extend our lead with extra-player advantages. The match did become more closely-fought as a result, however the Dragons regained focus and composure - they altered their gameplay and style. This helped swing the pendulum firmly back into our team’s favour as we sustained a lead until the final whistle and triumphed for a second consecutive league match. Another decent victory, although it could have been more comfortable if we hadn’t got attracted to the pure brute force of the opposition’s gameplay and if we had better use of our extra-player advantages. During the match, we had six extra-player advantages, with us only converting on the one occasion – giving an efficiency percentage of 16%. Nevertheless, another superb result, more points being won, more progression being made. Cwm Draig 11-8 Bradford-on-Avon.
Players’ reaction
Steffan Geary: “Great win lads, let’s keep this form going for the next game.”
Jacob Edwards: “Great win again lads, keep the momentum up. Think a big difference is that we're all a lot mature in our gameplay now and we have a squad in which everyone is capable of contributing greatly towards the result, which helps a lot as every single player is a key player.”
Matthew Griffiths: “Magnificent display yet again lads, we are showing every team in this league that we are no pushovers.”
Alun Chesworth-Rickards: “Very well done lads, we battled hard for that win and got the result that we deserved.”