Sully Sports are raring to go when Division 6 East Central kicks off at home to Whitchurch on Saturday - despite a less than perfect pre-season.
New head coach John Dimond, who spent the summer building a new-look squad, has been left frustrated by a lack of pre-season friendlies.
One was abandoned and two others were called off late, with Sully managing at the last-minute to arrange a home game against Llandaff Athletic at the weekend.
Last season, Dimond ended his career as head youth coach on a high by winning the WRU Youth Plate. He has used his contacts in the sport well, recruiting several players who have worked with him before, as well as some former Sully players, and others from outside.
“We’ve had a massive influx of former youth boys, players I’ve coached over the last three season, along with some former Barry first team players. And I have a nucleus of rugby friends, who are ready to help out,” said Dimond.
He has also spoken to a number of players currently at university and is hopeful they will be available at times during the season.
Add the tie-in with Cross Keys, where former Barry Youth players Daf Jones and Victor Corrihons are currently playing, and there is the possibility of borrowing players from the Valleys club.
“Good contacts in the right areas will allow me to bring players in and hopefully use the connection to work both ways", he said.
Dimond feels he has a strong squad, but his first season at Sully is something of a building exercise. “Sully have struggled for a few years and didn’t really have the player base. That corner has been turned."
"This first year we build as much as we can, and next year the younger players will be a year older and a year wiser."
Sully will not be competing in the Division 6 Cup competition - a consequence of pulling out last year - but they will compete in the Mallett Cup and other Cardiff area cup competitions as there are only 14 league games in a season that is due to end in February.
Although the emphasis has to be on the first team – “building from the top” – Dimond hopes to be able to put a second/development XV together, and at the end of the season, he aims to approach the WRU to see what the club needs to do to set up a youth team.
On and off the field things have been falling into place. Player recruitment has gone well and sponsorship efforts have proved fruitful. But the acid test is yet to come, with all eyes on Saturday.
“We are champing at the bit to get going, getting on to the pitch and getting a bit of rust off. The system is in place, we’ve been recruiting well,” said Dimond. “We just want to get going.”
Sully beat Llandaff Athletic 38-36 on Saturday in a friendly played with passive scrums throughout - at Llandaff’s request - before clinching victory in the closing minutes. Both sides used space to their advantage to score tries out wide.
Sam Bowditch took charge in place of the absent Dimond: “The last five minutes showed a lot of maturity from the boys,” he said.
“A huge positive for me was the number of penalties given away could be counted on one hand, showing that the visitors had to work hard for their points as there were no easy outs.”
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