THE
PAST, PRESENT AND HOPES FOR THE FUTURE by Carwyn Jones
AM
I first went to a Bridgend
game in September 1975. It rained, so much so that as
a glasses wearer I didn’t see much of the game
from the terrace. We lost 12-3 to Cardiff, and the fact
that we played in gold jerseys gave me a lifelong belief
that if we played in gold then we lost. I remember the
1978 game against the All Blacks, beaten but not disgraced.
It rained again, but my main memory was the first line-out
when the New Zealand pack seemed to be huge compared
to ours. Better days came with the two cup final wins
in 1979 and 1980, and then we beat the 1981 Australians,
courtesy of four Gary Pearce penalties. We should have
won by a mile.
In
1990 we were back in the final, losing 16-10 to Neath,
which given the fact that most of my mates were from
Neath at that stage was sheer purgatory. Our try that
day was scored by a certain Kevin Ellis. I wonder what
happened to him!
Then we won the last professional premiership title,
a sweet win against Neath, in the company of my Neath
mates. Let’s hope for a good season to come. It
would be nice to have a day out in Cardiff for the final.
We need to have something to celebrate this year, because
it's going to be tough for Wales in the World Cup. I
think the French are looking good for it, given the
All Blacks’ reputation for choking. I think a
northern hemisphere win (not England this time!) would
be good. The Ravens are in the blood for me, and long
may that continue.
THE NEW SEASON by Gareth
Rees
As a new season dawns on us, a few familiar faces have
stayed in the squad, which I'm happy about, but we've
got some new players too, which will be interesting
to see how they do.
I'm not expecting too much from Bridgend this term,
I'd basically like to see the team do better than last
season, in terms of consistency with the performances.
We gave away too many games last time, but I think the
league is more competitive than it gets credit for.
It is annoying sometimes, because we know when Bridgend
play well, we can beat anyone. Thank god for the cup
run last season. Almost... I would like to think we
can try and go one step further this time.
My main hope this season though, is to see more people
turn up at The Brewery Field... and come back again,
but obviously, we need some good rugby to help with
that.
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If anyone wants to air their views on The Ravens, Wales,
or just rugby in general, just get in touch via info@bridgendravens.co.uk
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