RGC head coach Matt Silva stated his young squad can take “plenty of positives” from their narrow 29-22 home loss to Cardiff.

The Gogs’ ended a run of two straight victories with defeat at the hands of the Indigo Group Premiership title hopefuls, who currently sit top of the standings after a standout start to the campaign.

Speaking to the RGC website, Silva said: “I thought we put in a good performance, and the result was not due to a lack of effort or giving too much respect to Cardiff.

“A few mistakes – missed tackle, poor kick and penalty at the end gave them points on the board and it fair to say we played most of the rugby. “Our composure let us down in the end, and we need to learn that when there is ten minutes left in the game we don’t have to play like it is the final minute.

“Post-game we chatted about the fact they are a good side - unbeaten and supported by the Blues with regional players, and we gave them a game. “We can take huge confidence from that and the young players will learn a lot from this, so we will take positives from the 80 minutes.”

An imposing start from the visitors saw them secure a commanding advantage early on when Alex Everett crossed the white wash for the games first score which was converted by Gareth Thompson, who also added a penalty soon after to make it a ten-point deficit.

Gradually the home side began to see more of the ball and they reduced the arrears thanks to a Billy McBryde, with scrum-half Efan Jones unfortunate not to go over with two stunning individuals runs.

The hosts turned on the style towards the end of the first half thanks to a pair of tires in quick succession from Rhys Tudor, both of which were converted by McBryde to give the Gogs’ a seven-point lead at the break.

RGC failed to make the most of their numerical advantage shortly after the break when Alex Llewelyn was yellow carded, and they were made to pay when a driving maul resulted in an Ethan Lewis touch down. Thompson added the extras.

Things went from bad to worse for the home side when Barney Nightingale gave the Blue and Blacks the lead once again with a try that Thompson converted, but back came the Gogs’ courtesy of another score from Tudor, who sealed his hat-trick in fine style with another blistering penetration of the Cardiff rearguard.

They were unable to put this momentum to good use and were undone again towards the end of the clash when Dan Fish was the beneficiary of a surging drive from the visiting pack to complete the scoring.