This was the cliched ‘game of two halves’ with the home team impressive and dominant for the first 40 minutes, and Ebbw having by far the better of the second.
On a cold night in the Rhymney Valley (I saw a man from Beaufort with a scarf on top of his T-shirt) and in front of the S4C cameras, Bedwas were quicker out of the blocks, playing at a pace that Ebbw struggled to match.

The first score came after 5 minutes when referee Craig Evans adjudged that Ebbw had infringed at a breakdown 15 metres out. Richard Powell kicked the penalty. Bedwas edged further ahead when Robson Blake burst through Ebbw’s stretched midfield – Josh Lewis having been harshly yellow carded – to feed centre Mike Callow who scored under the posts. Powell converted, and late in the half, James Benjamin crossed wide out to give his team a thoroughly deserved 15-0 half time advantage. With a little more pateince and accuracy, they could have built a greater lead.

Having looked disorganised and short of ideas before the interval, Ebbw came out a different side and were on the board within the first minute when Josh Lewis’s clever kick ahead was touched down – just – by Craig Duncan. Aftermore sustained pressure by Ebbw’s forwards, Dai Langdon shimmied through the Bedwas defence and Lewis’s conversion brought the score to 15-12. Dorian Jones, in his first league appearance for Ebbw since Division Ones days, dropped a goal a few minutes later, before Powell restored Bedwas’s lead with a penalty. Ebbw took the lead for the first time just after the hour when Rhys Clarke capitalised on patient phase play to power over for a try. Lewis’s conversion gave the Steelmen a 22-18 advantage and it looked as if a most unlikley comeback was on the cards, with Ebbw pressing for the try that would have given them a bonus point.

It was not to be however as Bedwas scored through former Steelman Aaron Bramwell to take the spoils 23-22.

Ebbw know that at least one win from the remaining two fixtures is essential if they are to finish in the top eight when the division splits next month, and will take comfort from their second half performance.

The Ebbw team and substitutes:

Dan Haymond, Craig Duncan, Srdan Majkic, Dai Langdon, Will Holley; Josh Lewis, Chris Thomas; Ian George, Joe Franchi, Robert Sevenoaks; Damien Hudd (capt), Max Williams; Rhodri Dicks, Ronny Kynes, Rhys Clarke.

Subs: Jonny Bowen Ross Jones, Gethin Robinson Dawid Rubasniak, Jonathan Davies, Dai Jones, Dorian Jones, Jordan Howells.

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Ar noson oer ym Medwas, hon oedd ‘gêm o ddau hanner’ ystrydebol, gyda’r tîm cartref yn rheoli popeth yn ystod yr hanner cyntaf, a Glynebwy’n dod yn ôl yn gryf i oruchafu’r ail gyfnod. 

Daeth sgôr cyntaf y gêm ar ôl 5 munud wrth i dyfarnwr Craig Evans benderfynu bod Glynebwy  yn troseddu, a Richard Powell yn manteisio gyda chic cosb o 15 medr. Estynwyd mantais Bedwas gan gais i Mike Callow a dderbynodd bas gan Robson Blake, oedd wedi bylchu amddiffyn Glynebwy. Gyda throsiad Powell, roedd Bedwas yn y blaen, 10-0 ac, yn hwyr yn yr hanner, aeth James Benjamin drosodd yn y cornel. 15-0 oedd hi ar yr egwyl, a chefnogwyr Glynebwy yn rhyfeddu o ble fyddai pwyntiau’n dod i’w tîm nhw!

Ym munud cyntaf yr ail hanner, daeth yr ateb: cic bach deallus gan Josh Lewis, a Craig Duncan yn gorffen y symudiad. Wrth i’r gêm fynd ymlaen, roedd Glynebwy yn rhoi Bedwas o dan bwysedd ac, yn anochel, daeth ail gais – Dai Langdon yn siglo drwodd, a throsiad Lewis yn gwneud hi’n 12-15. Gêm gyfartal oedd hi gan gôl adlam Dorian Jones, ond cipiodd Bedwas y mantais unwaith eto gan gic cosb Powell.

Daliodd Glynebwy ati, yn datblygu cymalau’n amyneddgar, a daeth cais i Rhys Clarke. Trosiodd Lewis, aeth Glynebwy ar y blaen am y tro cyntaf, a’r hyn oedd i’w weld yn amhosibl yn yr hanner cyntaf yn dod yn bosibilrwydd. Yn anffodus, yn hwyr iawn yn y gêm, ymosododd Bedwas yn gryf iawn, a daeth cais i Aaron Bramwell. 23-22 oedd y sgôr terfynol ar ddiwedd gêm gyffrous a thynn.

Bydd angen ar Lynebwy ennill un (o leaif) o’u gemau’n erbyn Caerdydd a Cross Keys i sicrhau lle yn ar ‘wyth uchaf’ am weddill y tymor.