CHAMPIONSHIP duo Cross Keys and Bedwas will be desperate to give everyone at Pandy Park and Bridge Field a huge lift this weekend following the destruction caused by Storm Dennis.

It has been a week like no other for the two Gwent clubs after water flooded their grounds in the early hours of Sunday morning, leaving both facing a massive clean-up operation.

When it comes to matters on the field, the show goes on for Morgan Stoddart’s Keys and Stefan Sankala’s Bedwas tomorrow, with games against Narberth and Neath respectively.

Keys head west (kick-off 2pm) on the back of a postponed clash with Bargoed, while Bedwas have switched their home fixture to the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach (kick-off 1pm).

It remains to be seen when both will be able to play on home soil next, although news of the WRU’s ‘exceptional circumstances’ fund is a big boost to them and other clubs in Wales hit by flooding.

“I went down the club on Tuesday to help out for a few hours,” said Keys head coach Stoddart. “The water has left an unbelievable mess on the pitch and in the club.

“Luckily at Keys we have got a loyal band of volunteers who do a lot of stuff around the club, and they’ve been working really hard this week. “They have been helped out by a number of other people in the last four or five days. Some have taken time off work to put shifts in at the club.

“Everyone has done a great job so far, so it would be good if we could give them something to celebrate on Saturday.”

He added: “It’s great that the WRU has got involved and set-up this fund. I imagine a lot of clubs will need extra finances at a time like this, and that fund will go a long way.”

Keys’ training hasn’t been affected as they added a session on the 3G at Ystrad Mynach last night to their usual run-out there on Tuesday.

And, as it turns out, the next game planned for Pandy Park isn’t until March 28, when Keys host Ystalyfera.

“We aren’t scheduled to play at Pandy Park until March 28, so that is a big target for everyone to get the pitch ready by,” said Stoddart. “I don’t know what it’s going to take to get the pitch ready because the water brought a lot of stuff with it when it came in.

“People said they left the club just before midnight last Saturday and there was no issue with the water, and then three or four hours later it was flooded.

“The force of the water pushed everything against the fences, and if there had been people there when it arrived it could have been a lot worse.”

The spirit shown by those at Keys to get their club back on its feet has been mirrored in Bedwas.

“Flooding at Bridge Field like this is something completely new to people – it’s unheard of,” said head coach Sankala. “Hopefully it’s a one-off.

“But everyone has rallied together and done an incredible job getting the mess cleaned up, and we are really grateful to those people and sponsors who have helped out.

“People are rallying around and getting the club up to a standard where we can still use it.

“The aim is to play the game against Neath on Saturday and then have people watching Wales play France at the club in the evening.”

Commenting on the decision to move the Neath game to Ystrad Mynach, he added: “We have had too many games called off this season already.

“Things at the club are not going to change in the short term so rather than add to the backlog of matches we switched it to the 3G, and credit to the guys in Ystrad Mynach for letting us use the pitch.

“A lot of hard work has gone in at the club over the last few days, but our pitch is obviously unplayable – there was a car on it!”

Meanwhile, in the Premiership, Newport, like Bedwas, are playing on an artificial surface tomorrow as they go to Merthyr (kick-off noon).

A 17-0 defeat of Swansea in their last outing took Ty Morris’ Black and Ambers even further away from the danger zone in the top flight.

They would have fancied their chances of extending the gap between them and bottom club Bridgend even further last weekend.

However, Sunday’s home game against Llandovery was postponed on the orders of the Rodney Parade management to protect the under-strain pitch.