Neath defeated favoruites Bargoed 16-13, despite trailing at half time 10 points behind.
The second game of National Club finals day at the Principality Stadium saw Bargoed take on a Neath side who won the inaugural Challenge cup fifty years prior.
Neath took an early lead through Steff Williams’s penalty to calm any pre-match jitters.
Fifteen minutes later, Bargoed missed their chance to level the scoring, as a relatively straightforward penalty was missed by Steffan Jones.
They didn’t wait long to put that right however, as a dynamic attacking move saw scrum-half James Leadbetter find himself through to give Bargoed the lead. This time Jones made no mistake in converting calmly.
Bargoed extended their lead just before half time through another Jones kick, sending them in at half time with a 13-3 advantage.
Neath needed to come out the blocks fast in the second half to bridge the gap after finding themselves in some great positions in the first half with little reward.
They found themselves penned into their own half in the opening exchanges of the second half and a Tim Ryan yellow card added to their problems.
However, an Elis Hogan kick from within his own half, almost saw him catch the Bargoed defence out, but he failed to pick up the ball from his kick.
Fifteen minutes passed in the second half and Neath were yet to encroach on Bargoed’s 10-point lead, with a comeback looking increasingly unlikely.
Steff Williams’ second penalty for Neath reduced the deficit to seven points, with just over 25 minutes left on the clock.
Just a few minutes later, Neath winger James Roberts broke away down the left, and once he got into his stride there was no stopping him from putting Neath just two points away from Bargoed.
Soaking up the Cardiff sunshine, both sets of fans roared on their teams, as an increasingly more tense final drew to its conclusion.
With six minutes remaining it looked as though the Neath comeback was all but complete, as Matthew Jenkins put them ahead after getting past his man. The resulting conversion was missed, leaving the score at 16-13, with just five minutes to go.
Nobody could accuse Bargoed of a lack of effort, as they threw everything they had at Neath for the remainder of the match.
However, they held strong and won the final 16-13.
Neath captain Aaron Bramwell said: “Winning the cup means the world to me as a Neath boy, as it does to a lot of the boys, because we’re all Neath people basically.
“It’s credit to all the players, the staff and the coaching staff. They’ve been absolutely immense.”
After scoring the winning try, Neath Winger Jamie Roberts said: “Scoring was an unbelievable feeling, not everyone gets to do it. When you feel the roar of your supporters, I’ve never had a feeling like it.
“My heart was beating out of my chest. The atmosphere was flowing.”
