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Page 1 of 2 Pontypridd U9’s 1 Mt. Ash U9’3 1 Glorious sunshine awaited Ponty this morning when they arrived in Mt. Ash, following of course a glorious match the previous day as Wales had played, and eventually beaten, Scotland. The players were full of confidence in their warm up, the previous meeting between the two sides earlier in the season had gone Ponty’s way quite convincingly, and everyone was looking forward to an entertaining game amidst some welcome warm and sunny weather.
The teams had agreed before the match that three halves would be played rather than have two games and with this arrangement in place Ponty kicked off deep into their opponents half and chased and harried Mt. Ash at every opportunity, keeping their opponents pinned back near their own touchline. Time and again Mt. Ash would try and break free only to be met with fierce and aggressive Pontypridd tackling. Time and again Ponty would threaten to score only to be met with equally determined and fierce Mt. Ash defence. The two sides wrestled and battled through the first half, neither side able to break the deadlock, Ponty having the territorial advantage but unable to capitalise, Mt. Ash courageous and firm in defence but unable to gain any ground. Half time seemingly came round quickly offering some respite for the players from the titanic struggle and allowing the spectators time to calm their nerves. The first meeting between the sides had seen Ponty move the ball quickly and fluidly, utilising their pace to attack the spaces in the Mt. Ash defence. This pitch was narrower and Mt. Ash are a bigger stronger team than Ponty and to their credit were playing to their strengths, keeping the ball tight and driving through their forwards. In the second half this strategy began to pay dividends as now it was Mt. Ash’s time to camp in their opponents territory and, in a reversal of the first half, it was Ponty who had to defend and withstand wave upon wave of Mt. Ash attacks. The two sides were playing their little hearts out neither willing to give in, when to yells of delight from their supporters Mt. Ash broke free down the left wing to score and for the first team this season, Ponty were behind in a game. All season long Pontypridd have shown resilience and determination, now they would need to summon up all their courage as well to salvage the match. The second break again gave each team a welcome respite… The third half started and this time Ponty attacked with all the vigour they had shown at the start of the match, the coaches words ringing in their ears and shortly after the start, Jay ‘Pocket Battleship’ Jones broke through to bring the sides level. The urgency had returned, but again the cohesion was lacking, and despite being camped on the Mt. Ash try-line for most of the period Ponty just could not find the telling pass to bring the victory. In the end a draw was probably the right result, both sides had produced an heroic effort, Mt. Ash had managed to stifle the Ponty attack and shown they have improved tremendously since the beginning of the season, for Ponty, this was the second game in a row when they have failed to impose their running and passing game?
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