photo by Mark Harris

This weekend saw the only remaining unbeaten teams lose their 100% record to open up Welsh Conference completely.

The biggest upset of the weekend saw the Valley Cougars overturning the Bridgend Blue Bulls for only their fifth loss in as many seasons to win 27-24.

The Cougars raced into an early 10-0 lead at Ferndale thanks to a Ceri Cummins try and six points from the boot of Gareth Williams. The Blue Bulls hit back with two quick tries from centre Ian Higgins which were converted to put the Bulls in front.  The Bulls rallied after a period of indiscipline which saw Gerwyn Davies in the bin to give them the lead at the break.  The second half saw the teams trade tries before The Bulls discipline let them down again.  The Cougars took advantage kicking their way to the win.

In Cardiff the Demons continued their unbeaten run against the Titans with a 36-30 win.   The first half saw the spoils shared as the teams traded tries to go in at the break 14 a piece. The second half began with a trademark Ross Palmer power run to give the visitors the lead before the Demons scored four unanswered tries from Gareth Jones, Paul Collette, Miles Davies and Rhodri Thomas.   The Titans weren't going to give up without a fight and clawed their way back to within one score before time ran out.

At Pontypool United the Tigers came out on top with a 34-30 victory against the West Wales Sharks in a thriller.  West Wales Sharks buoyant from their spectacular second half victory against the Cardiff Demons last week drew first blood as both teams traded tries in the first half.  One conversion being the difference at the break.  In the second half the Tigers opened up a gap with a try from Chris Baldwin and a penalty from last seasons top try scorer Matt Entwhistle.  The Sharks took back the lead once more before Gareth-John Jones sealed the win win the try of the Game.

In the final game of the round the Bulldogs inflicted the heaviest defeat yet for the new boys in the Conference by beating Neath Port Talbot Steelers 66-24.

Full reports here