By Twm Owen
Excitement, nerves and fear are all emotions likely to be felt by Cardiff City supporters at Sunday lunchtime but Bluebirds fan Geraint Roberts is putting the £100m game to the back of his mind to focus on his South Wales Warriors’ imminent British American Football league fixture.
The Warriors players will be arriving at Llanharan’s Dairy Field for their opening home game against the Jurassic Coast Raptors just as Cardiff City kick-off against Reading, at the Cardiff City Stadium 20 minutes east along the M4, in a match that could clinch promotion to the English Premier League.
Rhondda boy Roberts, once a follower of Cardiff City “home and away”, has accepted his duties as head coach of the only Welsh side in the British American Football Association (BAFA) National Leagues means he cannot witness a potentially historic day in the capital club’s history.
Instead his focus will be on preparing his charges for the challenge of the Raptors in a game that kicks-off at 2.30pm by when all Bluebirds fans, save for Roberts, could be celebrating promotion without any restraint.
“Unfortunately not,” said Roberts when asked if he’ll be watching the climax to the Championship season as the clock ticks down to kick-off at Llanharan Rugby Club.
Instead Roberts will be drilling into his team, who opened their season with an 8-6 victory against BAFA Southern Football Conference Division Two West newcomers the Somerset Wyverns, the game plan for the afternoon.
“Our players will be arriving at 12:30 and our important pre game preparations will be going on while the City game is ongoing,” said Roberts.
“I’m sure I’ll be taking a sneaky peek at the score updates though. Let’s hope that there’s wins for both us and the City come Sunday evening.”
The Warriors failed to turn possession into points against the Wyverns after taking an early lead and when the defense gave up a late touchdown it looked as if a first victory since the Warriors’ own season in the BAFA Premiership in 2016 could have slipped through their grasp.
The league schedule has meant the Warriors have however had to wait three full weeks for their second game, though Roberts said the time has been put to good use.
“We’ve reviewed what did and didn’t work in the Somerset game, and we feel more prepared for the game this Sunday. You can’t dictate how the fixtures fall so you’ve just got to make the most of the practice time you have.”
This Sunday, May 6th, the Warriors host the @JurassicRaptors at home for our second game of the 2018 season and our first home game of the season.
The game will be played at Llanharan RFC and kick off is at 2:30pm.
Entry to the game is free and the clubhouse will be open. pic.twitter.com/WukFtUyrgM— South Wales Warriors (@swwarriors) May 2, 2018
Wet and blustery conditions blighted the opening fixture in Somerset but temperatures are predicted to reach 20c on bank holiday Sunday and Roberts is content the Warriors’ large squad will allow for plenty of player rotation so the team doesn’t struggle in the heat.
Roberts hopes a winning start, after a winless 2017, will also instore some self-belief in the Warriors who have been identified as favourites to win the division after relegation from the second tier.
“It’s helped with the confidence within the team,” said Roberts of their hard-fought victory in Somerset: “We didn’t play well at Somerset, but it’s much easier to focus the mind on improvements on the back of a win than a loss.”
The Dorset-based visitors have also struggled to put past losses behind them. They lost their opener away at Worcestershire Black Knights, the same team they registered their only victory against in 2017.
The Raptors have also been inactive since their April 15 defeat in Worcester when they also showed promise early on, scoring two first half touchdowns before giving up 26 unanswered points to the free-scoring Knights.
A visit to Llanharan could prove a test of mental resolve for the Raptors as the Dairy Field is just 12 miles from Llantwit Major beach considered one of the best places in Wales to search for Jurassic fossils including giant brachiopods and ichthyosaurus bones.
With only eight fixtures in the bottom tier the Warriors will be spared a return trip to the Jurassic Coast and will be aiming to ensure the Raptors do not leave south Wales with any treasure.