The two clubs from the Scarlets region meet this Saturday for the right to play Pontypridd at Sardis Road and with the dust barely settling on Pontypridd’s SWALEC Cup final success, Dicomidis was already looking ahead to what would be a first ever league and cup double.
“We’ve had a good season so far and we’re a good team at the moment but to be a great team we need to wrap the league title up as well,” he said after the 34-13 win over Neath at the Millennium Stadium.
“There’s plenty to work on. I think the ruck area in the first half wasn’t great and I’m sure Chief and the boys will go away and analyse the game and we’ll build on that going into a week Saturday.
“We’ll come back into training and see who we’ve got in that play-off final and we’ll be focusing hard for whoever we’re playing against.
“We respect both teams but we don’t fear anyone. Whoever we play has to come to Sardis Road, it’s a tough place to come and we haven’t lost there all year.”
The final score from Saturday’s final may look convincing but Neath pushed Pontypridd all the way, especially during a competitive first half. The Welsh All Blacks had led at half time, a try from wing Dafydd Howells and the boot of Dai Langdon giving them a four point cushion.
But a second half double from wing Chris Clayton and a score for replacement hooker Darran Harris meant Pontypridd bounced back from defeat to Cross Keys in last year’s final.
“Coming in at half time, we rightly had a roasting off Chief,” said Dicomidis.
“We made too many mistakes in the first half, missed tackles and that’s what led to the try.
“But we knew if we went through the phases and kept the ball, we would score tries. Thankfully in the second half, we did that.
“We played a lot more brave rugby in the second half compared to the first half. We were in our shells to start with and fair play to Neath, they spoilt a lot of our ball and turned us over.
“It’s nice to get the first one out of the way but we’ve got a lot of hard work to put in for a week Saturday and whoever we play, Llandovery or Llanelli, will be a stern test.”
Llandovery play Llanelli in the Premiership play-off semi-final at Church Bank this Saturday (KO 2.30pm). The winner of that game will play Pontypridd in the Premiership final at Sardis Road on Saturday, May 11. (KO 7pm)
