Having sealed their title triumph with a 29-3 home win over Dinas Powys on Saturday, Glyncoch carried off the SWALEC Division 5 title with 89 points. The proud team has stormed through the league unbeaten all season.
And despite having a game still in hand against Blaengarw, they are quietly confident of retaining that winning record – their last meeting ended in a 111-0 scoreline in Glyncoch’s favour.
The title is all the more remarkable since Glyncoch only joined the higher league this season, having been promoted following a similar umblemished record in Division 6.
“We’ve won 45 games in a row – now we’re looking forward to Division 4,” said Club Secretary Mark Bengough.
He credits coaches Mark Rowlands and Peter Cummings – both of whom moved to Glyncoch from Ynysybwl Youth a couple of seasons ago to join Gerwyn Williams – with the incredible results.
“We always had the players, and they brought extra fitness, skills, a new discipline and above all better teamwork to the squad,” said Mr Bengough.
Most of the squad are locals, with some having come up through the youth team, and they are sure to get solid support when they move up a division. “I think we emptied Glyncoch when we played at the Millennium Stadium in the SWALEC bowl,” Mr Bengough says. “We do have a great social side to the club, but I’ll be honest – winning makes that social side so much better!”
Rowlands said he and his fellow coaches were incredibly proud of the squad. “They are a very tight–knit bunch who work hard for each other, and love it, whatever we put in front of them. I came here two seasons ago and the boys have been brilliant – we’ve gone up as champions two years now and I’m sure the boys will look forward to the challenge of Division 4.”
Captain Andrew Edwards, who even dashed back halfway through a Greek holiday to lead Glyncoch RFC to victory in the SWALEC Bowl last season, said moving up a division would be tough, but they would relish it.
“We played a lot of Division 4 sides last year when we won the SWALEC Bowl so we know what Division 4 is about,” he said. “We know it’s going to be tough, but with the squad we’ve got up here and the excellent coaching staff, we think we’ll do very well.”
