BEDWAS head coach Stefan Sankala is desperate for a complete reversal of fortunes tomorrow after everything that could have gone wrong in his side’s fight against relegation last weekend did.

Trailing 19-10 going into the second half at Ebbw Vale, Bedwas were still in with a chance of making a comeback to register a sixth win in seven Principality Premiership outings.

However, Adam Williams’ yellow card soon after the restart allowed the Steelmen to pull clear and eventually seal a 47-24 triumph, with not even a four-try bonus point for the visitors.

To make matters worse, both of Bedwas’ closest rivals in the bid to avoid the drop, Llanelli and Bridgend, won with five-point hauls.

Bedwas remain 12th, two points above Bridgend and still in a position that would see them face Pontypool in a play-off to determine who takes the final spot in next season’s top flight.

But things don’t look favourable from a Bedwas perspective as Bridgend have two matches in hand, while Llanelli, six points clear of the Gwent club, are home to Neath in their final game of the term.

They should pick up the five points on offer, and it’s hard to see in-form Bridgend coming unstuck against relegated Bargoed tomorrow and Cross Keys on May 1.

Assessing the situation, Sankala said: “We were all bitterly disappointed with what happened last weekend – I certainly did not see that coming.

“It was bad enough us losing to Ebbw Vale but to then find out Llanelli and Bridgend had won with bonus points was very tough to take.

“I have always said that it’s down to us and everything else will take care of itself, but to fold like we did in the second half and hear the other results made it a hard day.

“It’s really backs against the wall stuff now as far as we are concerned.

“We probably need two strong victories to finish the season and we’ll still be in the fight, but we’ve also got to rely on other results going our way.”

He added: “We were content with our first-half performance at Ebbw.

“We were definitely in the fight going into the second half, but Ebbw were ridiculously accurate and put us to the sword out wide.

“Adam Williams picked up a yellow card early in the second half and Ebbw scored two tries while he was off.

“Our defence, which we’ve relied on heavily this season, just couldn’t cope for some reason.”

Bedwas go to Aberavon tomorrow (kick-off 2.30pm) with hopes of remaining in the race for survival.

The sixth-placed Wizards are on a three-match winning streak and still have ambitions of finishing in the top five or higher.

“Jason Hyatt and his coaching staff desperately want to finish as high as they can and will target this game to get themselves closer towards the top of the table,” said Sankala.

“James Richards is a big loss for us up front and Lewis Bowden is missing from the backs.

“We’re a little bit understrength and we are underdogs, but I’d like to think we have it in ourselves to step up to the mark.”

Elsewhere tomorrow, RGC 1404 host Pontypridd in Colwyn Bay, and Sunday sees Merthyr and Cardiff go head-to-head in the National Cup final at Principality Stadium.