The Village will be emptied on Sunday when all roads lead to Cardiff to witness Bonymaen’s players take to the hallowed turf of the Principality Stadium to face Brecon in the final of the WRU National Plate.
Despite going down to a 21-14 defeat to Maesteg Celtic last weekend there was still some good news for Bony ahead of their big day as their cup final rivals Brecon lost their season-long unbeaten record.
Bonymaen’s last outing before the final not only ended in defeat, but also confirmed Ystalyfera as Division 1 West Central champions. Neil Arthur, Geraint Roberts and Oliver Petty scored the tries for Celtic with Matthew Harris adding the rest of the points from the tee.
Nathan Brooks scored twice in reply for Bonymaen, with both tries converted by Richard Cunniffe, as they no doubt already had one eye on the final. The same could perhaps also be said for One East table toppers Brecon – who themselves went down narrowly 33-32 in added time at Pontypool United.
It was their first defeat of the season and ended a run of 18 straight league victories and six more in the Plate. But what happened to both finalists last weekend won’t matter on Sunday.
“It’s one game, a cup final, and everything that has gone before goes out of the window,” said Bonymaen team manager, Dai Allen.
“It just comes down to the 80 minutes of rugby that’s in front of the boys, it doesn’t matter what has happened already in the season. It’ll be about hitting it hard and then hopefully we’ll come back with a win.
“It’s a magnificent stadium to play in and it’ll be the team that handles the occasion better who will come out on top. That’ll be the difference, not letting the occasion get to you.
“Maybe the boys just have to think they are still playing on Parc Mawr on a windy, rainy Saturday afternoon. I think everyone is pretty much available for Sunday and those carrying niggles will be fine I’m sure.
“One of the boys is away in Cyprus for his brother’s wedding, but he has booked an earlier flight to come back to make sure he’s available for selection. That’s what it means.
“A lot of prep work has gone in since we won the semi-final and this week the boys will start preparing themselves and really focusing on the game and what is in front of them.”
The road to the final hasn’t been all plain sailing for Bonymaen. They were 14-0 down to Treorchy at half-time of their semi-final at Glynneath’s Abernant Park and looked to be going out to a Zebras side who had dumped out defending champions Brynmawr in the quarter-finals.
That was before they stormed back in the second half to win 28-19 thanks to two tries from Sam Jones and one from Chris Moore. Richard Cunniffe added two conversions and a penalty while Lawrence Thomas sent over a penalty and a drop goal.
Bonymaen also trailed 3-0 heading into the last 10 minutes of their quarter-final clash with Cambrian Welfare, until Nathan Eager crashed over for the only try of the match which was converted by Chris Moore to send Bony through 7-3.
After being handed a first round walkover against Porthcawl, Bony won 11-3 at Aberystwyth in round two before receiving a bye through round three. Cilfynydd were then seen off 19-14 Parc Mawr in round four.
“It’s a massive occasion for the club but also the community and the area of Bonymaen. We’re going to be very well supported on Sunday,” added Allen.
“We’ve got five buses booked and there are a few local clubs doing their own trips up there, as well as people going up by train and by car. A lot of boys have played rugby at Bonymaen all their lives all the way up to the seniors – and a lot of the committee members are the same as well.
“They all know what it means to play for Bonymaen, so they’ll be just as proud if the boys win on Sunday. It would mean a hell of a lot – for everybody involved.”
