MAY

WHEN it came to battling for honours, it was Cross Keys RFC who flew the flag for Gwent in May.

The Pandy Park outfit would ultimately fall short in two competitions, but did themselves a great credit against a star-studded Pontypridd side.

Keys had two stabs at denying Ponty, firstly giving them an almighty fright in the Swalec Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium, eventually losing out 21-8.

However, they weren’t broken by the experience and the following week secured a superb victory at Carmarthen Quins to catapult them into the Principality Premiership Final, with another showdown with Pontypridd – and this one at fortress Sardis Road, the House of Pain. Sadly for Keys, Ponty would triumph again, the hosts eventually winning out 38-17.

Keys were denied twice in May, but there is no doubting that they and Ebbw Vale were the premier Gwent club sides last season and have carried that form into the current campaign.

However, it would prove to be a mixed month for the Dragons who hardly ended their season with a bang.

Despite a big build-up and lots of people saying the right things, the Dragons were once again powerless to avoid a derby day defeat as the Scarlets swept them aside 34-23 in the penultimate game of the season – and at the time, potentially the Pro 12s penultimate game ever.

Not only did the Dragons endure a tough start to the month on the field, but they didn’t fare much better off it.

The farcical situation that saw them engage fans over a potential change of logo – only to pull the idea because of the amount of negative comments being received – was something of a PR disaster.

However, the region did at least end their campaign with a victory, albeit a close one as Rodney Parade was able to celebrate a 20-19 success over Treviso.

The Dragons said goodbye to Rob Sidoli and confirmed Jevon Groves’ departure for the Blues, but they also tied Lyn and Kingsley Jones to new deals and officially unveiled their new £6.8 million training facility at Ystrad Mynach. Meanwhile, our readers chose Lewis Evans as their Dragon of the Year.

Newport County AFC also ended their campaign with a win, defeating promoted Rochdale 2-1 to deny them the League Two title.

We announced after the match that Chris Zebroski was your Argus player of the season and over the next couple of weeks the Argus would break several stories pertaining to this season.

We told you first that it was Jones in and Jones out as the Exiles let youth coach Glyn Jones leave and swooped for ex-Exile Darren Jones, while we also exclusively reported Justin Edinburgh’s U-turn on Mike Flynn, the veteran staying on Parade as a player coach.

County also signed Yan Klukowski and Kevin Feely, the latter opting to join the Exiles over pursuing a Gaelic football career.

It was another big month for Gwent boxing as Gavin Rees ended his glittering career with redemption against Gary Buckland, beating his friend in a contest that couldn’t quite match the first, a fight of the year contender.

Lee Selby headed towards a world title by beating Romulo Koasicha and Nathan Cleverly made his comeback by destroying Shawn Corbin in two rounds. The Argus reported that Cleverly would then be set for two back-to-back fights in Liverpool with the second against Tony Bellew.

There was good news for 18-year old Croesyceiliog Comprehensive student Danielle Jordan who received a shock call to represent Wales in the Commonwealth Games, with Team Wales announcing a target of 27 medals in Glasgow.

And finally, a little known Welsh footballer named Gareth Bale scored the winning goal in some little known competition named the UEFA Champions League with mild fanfare following.

JUNE

AFTER a lifetime in athletics, Newport’s Christian Malcolm was denied a swansong when he failed to make the qualifying grade for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Malcolm couldn’t hit the time required in the 200m at the last event with qualification on the line and instead bowed out at the time trials in Cardiff.

Wales would go on to finalise a squad with plenty of Gwent interest, however.

It was a good performance from Chris Coleman’s Welsh football team in Holland on the eve of the World Cup in Brazil, but the Dutch looked nothing to write home about. Less than a month later, they would finish third in the World Cup.

There was plenty going on behind the scenes at both the Dragons and Newport County in June.

The Dragons confirmed a long-term deal for Kingsley Jones and also swooped to sign former Wales international and golf buggy enthusiast Andy Powell, but the region were turned down by Jason Strange who refused a coaching role and Darren Waters’ exit was also confirmed.

Elsewhere in rugby, coach Mike Hook quit Pontypool for Bridgend.

In boxing it was a big month for Wales’ greatest ever pugilist, Joe Calzaghe, who was whisked off to America where he became a first ballot Hall of Fame entrant.

Calzaghe spent the week leading up to the event doing some press interviews and in an hour-long sit-down with the Argus produced some brilliant lines, including his belief that he would have “destroyed,” Carl Froch.

Also in boxing, Nathan Cleverly was confirmed for a tune-up fight in Liverpool, sharing a bill with hated rival Tony Bellew.

The Argus visited Dragon Park to see what is going on at the epicentre of Welsh football and the Exiles fans could begin planning for the new campaign with the release of the Football League and Capital One Cup fixtures.

The Exiles also moved back to Gwent after agreeing a deal that will see them training at Llanwern High School.

The month ended with a star-studded line-up at the National Road Race Championships and we didn’t end up with a bad winner either, Bradley Wiggins storming the field and taking the title.