The Gogs started brightly with Tian Loots and Andy Baston both making some good breaks to the delight of the home crowd. Cameron Davies was next to make a dart through some tackles before the back got involved with a driving maul.

The first score went on the board after 18 minutes when Rhodri Carlton-Jones kicked a penalty. The visitors went down to 14 men when Matthew Rhys was yellow carded but they managed to get some points on the board with a penalty from Steve Lang.

RGC then capitalised on a mistake on the Merthyr lineout when Mei Parry picked up the ball and charged from the half-way line breaking through the tackles before offloading to Andy Baston for the try. Parry was soon to leave the field injured, but he made the difference for the first try.

The boot of Lang got the Merthyr back in the game with a big penalty from distance, but they weren’t offering anything attack wise in the first half.

RGC were the team looking to run the ball and after another break from Cameron Davies they went close with Maredydd Francis being held up on the line. It wasn’t long before the line was broken when Harri Evans ran in for the score just before half time. The fact RGC went for the tap penalty showed the intent of the players to go for the try and it was fully deserved based on the pay in the first half.

The second half started with an impressive barnstorming run from Shaun O’Rourke who couldn’t be stopped as he went over the line. O’Rourke was one of many players who carried the ball well today, and the gain-line break stats should make good reading.
The referee made it a 14 man game when he yellow carded Evan Yardley and Martin Luckwell.

It looked like RGC had scored the best try of the game when Loots and Huw Grundy combined to blast through but to the surprise of the crowd the referee hauled them back for a penalty.

It was another try made out of nothing that gave the Gogs the bonus point when Afon Bagshaw kicked on a loose ball and chased it down to go over to the delight of the Eirias crowd. Carlton-Jones added the extra. The RGC fullback showed pace, resilience and good hands to get the score.

The referees whistle was playing a major part in the game for the last 60 minutes as the penalty count racked up. The home side were being penalised at the breakdown on a number of occasions which hampered the flow of the side. Andrew Williams was given a yellow and the visitors picked up some momentum with 2 tries in the last 10 minutes of the game but RGC had done more than enough for the win over the 80 minutes.

RGC News caught up with Assistant Coach Josh Leach

“We have worked on a couple of things over the past few week and we looked to tidy up on a few areas. It was good to see that preparation pay off on the field today. We were solid in defence for 60 minutes but after being 25-6 up it was disappointing not to close out the game. We have to build on this win and tidy up a few more things for the Pontypool game including what we do with the ball in attack. That said it was a big win for us today and even more pleasing to pick up 5 points.”