Thursday, 9 January 2014

Swalec Bowl Round 4 Preview

The road to Swalec finals day and a date at the home of Welsh rugby continues on Saturday with a number of mouth-watering ties in round four of the Bowl competition.
Burry Port will be hoping to spring another Cup surprise on Saturday when they entertain Cwmgors in Round Four of the competition a side two divisions higher than the Six West outfit.
Last time out the Six West side put paid to Four West’s Trimsaran, and Director of Rugby Gareth Gravell is looking forward to welcoming the Cherries to the Park for the tie.
“We’ve been going well in the league so far this season. We were delighted to get the home draw and hopefully we can use that to our advantage on Saturday.”
Burry Port recorded a club record 123-3 success in the league earlier in the season over Fall Bay and Gravell is optimistic the confidence in the squad can help them to bag another upset.
“It will undoubtedly be a big test for us. Cwmgors are going well in their division but the boys are full of confidence and we are expecting a big crowd, and hopefully we can get the win.”
Another lower league club looking to spring a surprise and book a last 16 spot in the competition are Hartridge, who travel to Four East highfliers Oakdale.
Hartridge currently sit top of Six South East and are unbeaten so far this season, and Club Secretary Bill Berry is quietly confident they can produce a shock on Saturday.
“We believe we’ve got a strong enough side to really go and cause Oakdale problems on Saturday. We know it will be hard going but there is definitely a quiet confidence in the club at the moment and hopefully we can live up to that on Saturday.”
The Newport side are still a junior member of the WRU but Berry admits things are going well at the club, on and off the pitch.
“We are really delighted with the way our season is going at the moment, we have a strong first squad and have great numbers turning out for our second XV. More importantly, we also recently set up a junior side so things are definitely looking up for us."
Meanwhile, Six West’s Tregaron and Six East’s Tredegar Ironsides will also be looking to belie their lower league status when they take on Laugharne and Ynysddu respectively.
Glyncoch resume their bid to regain the title they won back in 2012 when they travel to fellow Four South East side Llantwit Major.
The Glyncs have had a fairly safe passage through to this stage of the competition so far with a bye, a walkover and a 102-7 victory seeing them through so far. Llantwit will undoubtedly prove to be a sterner test for the Pontypridd based outfit this weekend and will fancy their chances on home turf.
In one of the tastiest clashes of the round, Four East leaders Nantyglo travel to Abertysswg.
Nantyglo Team Manager Paul Cooper believes the contest is too close to call.
“Both sides are going well in the league, despite neither of us having played much rugby recently due to the weather, but I’m certain both teams will go out there and give it their all.”
Glo reached the quarter-final stage last season and Cooper admits the club would like to go all the way this season.
“I think if we can get over the hurdle of Abertysswg, who are a very good side and are extremely tough to beat on their own patch, then we can really kick on and start thinking about a Cup run.”
Despite the lack of game time, Cooper believes Nantyglo will be well prepared for the clash.
“We’re at full strength and the lads are fresh and are really up for the match. We’ve been looking good in training and we are really looking forward to the game.”
Elsewhere, Five South West pacemakers Ystradgynlais entertain league rivals Abercrave, and Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd welcome Llandaff in an all Four South East match-up.

A full list of the Swalec Bowl Round 4 fixtures can be found here

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