2.30pm 17 August 2025
Cymru South
Baglan Dragons 3 Newport City 3 (att 191)
Baglan Dragons has been an annoying gap on my groundhopping CV. Their relatively rapid rise through the divisions, to the second tier of Welsh domestic football, meant they were the highest ranked Welsh club I'd not been to.
They've even had previous early season Sunday fixtures but, until now, not on days when I was able visit. So it was with some satisfaction that was I finally able to tick off Evans Bevans Playing Field.
The venue is shared with Baglan Cricket Club, which I assume is the reason for some games being moved to Sundays at this time of year. With the cricket field out of bounds, it means only around half the football pitch is accessible to spectators.
Bearing that restriction in mind, Baglan Dragons have done well to provide all the necessary facilities, even it is a bit of a squeeze.
The entrance is in a corner behind the goal. Along the touchline to the left are a pair of seated stands, with no access beyond them. There's a small clubhouse behind the goal, with some picnic tables forming a mini beer garden, and hard standing which extends around to the dugouts, which face the stand.
I don't know what the capacity is. It was fine with a crowd approaching 200, but might be less comfortable against a team with a large travelling support.
Those Newport City fans who journeyed to Baglan, a suburb of Port Talbot, saw their side take an early lead. But they failed to hold onto it, with the home side quickly equalising and then going ahead with a penalty.
A third Baglan goal, a few minutes from time, looked to have settled the outcome, but Newport weren't beaten. The pulled a goal back in the last of the 90 minutes, and then got an unlikely equaliser deep into a lengthy period of stoppage time.
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