Gwent Premier League
Division 2
Thursday 9th April 2026
Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.04
The Oak 0 Riverside Rovers 4, attendance 26
35’ 0-1
45’ + 3, 0-2
50’ 0-3
87’ 0-4
@ The Recreation Ground (Tredegar R.U.F.C.)
Stable Lane
Tredegar
NP22 4BH
No Admission or Programme.
When I came to The Recreation Ground in January 1999, I saw Tredegar Town beat Garw 3-0 in a Welsh League Division 3 match, which was played on a pitch beyond the rugby ground, running lengthways away from it. The pitch is still there, as are floodlights, but there’s no longer a rail around the pitch, so it doesn’t meet league requirements these days. Tonight was an opportunity to see a game on the rugby pitch, at the second time of trying. I came here on a Saturday in November, hoping to see an F.C. Tredegar match, who normally play next door at Tredegar Leisure Centre, but it was called off due to a waterlogged pitch and I had to head elsewhere. The Oak are now using the rugby pitch here, as their own ground at Ebbw Vale Sports Centre is having a new 3G pitch laid, so it was a good chance to finally tick this one off. I arrived nice and early, leaving time to head off to an alternate game if required. The portable goals were in place, in front of the rugby posts and the corner flags were out, but when the player’s came out to warm up, they removed the flags and proceeded to make their way to the far pitch, which I’d done and put them there instead, before beginning their warm up. According to a player I spoke to, they’d used that pitch the last time they were here, but thankfully, the experienced Referee was having none of it and made them move back to the rugby pitch, as “it’s got a barrier, as required for Gwent Premier matches and that’s where we’re playing”. I feel a younger Referee may have buckled, but thankfully this one stuck to his guns Phew.
The rugby ground was worth making the effort for. There’s a large car park, with the changing room building behind the goal at the entrance end. The pitch is railed on three sides, albeit set back a bit and has a magnificent 250 seat stand, with dugouts in front. Either side of this are two sections of open terracing and there’s another section on the far side too. The ground also has floodlights, but they weren’t needed for tonight’s six o’clock kick off.
The match was 9th versus 4th in the league table and was very evenly contested up until The Oak had a man red carded (2 x yellow) after twenty seven minutes. The ten men only held out for seven minutes before Riverside made the breakthrough, when a header from a diagonal free kick looked to have crossed the line, bouncing back out off one of the wheels on the frame, but the rebound was smashed in from close range anyway, removing any doubt over whether it had already gone in. In stoppage time the visitors doubled their lead, powering in a header from a corner on the left. A one on one finish saw them go 0-3 up five minutes into the second half and the fourth goal arrived three minutes from the end, heading in unmarked from close range.
The game finished at 19.46, by which time the temperature had dropped dramatically and I had daylight up until reaching the M4 for my drive home. No problems, apart from queuing for a couple of hundred yards on the M25 at J10, where they were about to close the motorway.
Above : The old scoreboard has seen better days….
