Clifton welcome Bargoed to Station Road tomorrow night as they look to round off an impressive few weeks in their pre-season warm up games. Matt Salter’s side went up a gear against Ebbw Vale & Tonbridge last week after their opening game against Taunton, and this Thursday they will want to ensure they finish’s strong against Bargoed.

The Gwent side dominated the Welsh Championship last year, beating the like of Neath and Pontypool and the game promises to be a hugely physical contest under floodlights at Station Road.

Clifton have named a 25 man squad to face Bargoed and Matt Salter is looking forward to seeing the last hit out after 10 weeks of gruelling pre-season. “We’ve worked really hard the last few weeks and we have gone well. But it is pre-season and Thursday offers us another opportunity to look at those combinations, keep building on our framework and giving boys those minutes.”

Clifton welcome back Marcus Nel to the starting 15 alongside Will Owen in the centre and there are further familiar faces on the bench as Dan Wells looks to make his return to the side. Dave Wheeler, Max Woodward and Ed Grinsted also feature as does Danny Openshaw and Ricky Cano.

“Bargoed will be a tough, hard side to break down. They will be effective at the breakdown and will come at us hard both sides of the ball, and they can play. We need to ensure that we match them in those physical areas but also stick to our game management, play in the right areas and ensure we are accurate with and without the ball. Thursday night games are always a nice way to round of pre-season as we head into the league campaign.”

Clifton Rugby v Bargoed RFC | Thursday 25th August 2022 | Station Road | Kick Off 19:45

1. Charlie Bullimore 2. Nick Selway 3. Alex Giltrow 4. Max Murphy 5. Freddie Myatt 6. Tom Wilson (c) 7. Harry Bate 8. Brad Talbot 9. Mitch Spencer 10. Luke Cozens 11. Zak Hamid 12. Will Owen 13. Marcus Nel 14. Alex Kilbane 15. Zak Ward

16. Ricky Cano 17. Jake Buckley 18. Bertie Stretch 19. Ed Grinsted 20. Max Woodward 21. Finlay Sharp 22. Danny Openshaw 23. Dan Wells 24. Connor Sloan 25. David Wheeler