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After another lay off of a couple of weeks due to the bad weather the boys turned up at Coedylan playing fields ready for a tough encounter with Abercynon. Pontypridd’s squad was depleted due to illness and the Easter holidays and were down to a bare 10 whilst Abercynon turned up with 17 boys to choose from.
The game started with Ponty kicking off and immediately going on the attack and forcing a scrum deep in the Abercynon half. From the scrum a sharp blind side break by scrum half Callum Pearce saw him get close to the line only to be held up just short. Ponty were camped in the Abercynon half but dogged defence from the Abercynon boys kept Ponty out. Abercynon came back into the game with some strong forward play and nice work by their back but the Ponty boys were up to the challenge and held firm. It was Abercynon’s turn to exert pressure and keep Ponty penned into their own half but a good defensive line out secured good ball for outside half Shaun Bowditch to kick downfield and relieve the pressure and with a good chase from the Ponty boys forced Abercynon into touch. From the line out the ball was taken on by the Ponty forwards with Greggor McCain and Jasper Powell showing their upper body strength mauling the ball forward before serving the ball up for the backs to go to work. Swift passing saw the ball in Lucas Hickman’s hands (Ponty’s answer to Shane Williams) who pinned his ears back and scored in the corner. Converted by Callum Pearce. Ponty continued to pressure the Abercynon boys and with some ferocious tackling from Ben Kondella, Rhys Grainger and Harley Jones managed to turn the ball over and saw Jasper Powell pick up the ball and go over the line only to be held up by excellent covering defence from Abercynon. Abercynon managed to clear their lines and hack the ball up field putting pressure on the Ponty defenders and after a poor kick by Ponty they managed to collect the loose ball and go over for a well deserved try which was also converted. Half Time: Pontypridd7 Abercynon 7 Abercynon started the second half and Ponty put themselves into trouble with a knock on giving Abercynon good field position with a scrum 10 meters out. From the scrum Abercynon drove hard at the Ponty line but again the Ponty boys were well organised and forced a turn over and managed to kick up field. The weather changed dramatically from sunshine to driving rain which made conditions very difficult to play in but to be fair both sided tried hard to play a running game. Every time the Ponty backs had the ball they looked dangerous with strong forceful running from Morgan Burgess, good support play by Lloyd Harris and some nifty footwork from Lucas Hickman. The game ebbed and flowed with both sides giving their all in both attack and defence but with a muddy pitch and driving rain both sets of players were feeling the pressure (either that or they’d started tucking into their Easter eggs a bit early!!) With only seconds to go and a draw seeming the outcome one of the Abercynon players broke through some tired tackles and looked destined to score only for a try saving tackle by Shaun Bowditch but it was the Abercynon boys who got there in numbers and after a messy ruck managed to pass the ball out to their backs and despite heroic tackling by Ponty they finally ran out of numbers and Abercynon went over for the winning try. Full Time: Pontypridd 7 Abercynon 12 Scorers: Tries: Lucas Hickman Conversions: Callum Pearce Team: Harley Jones (c), Greggor McCain, Ben Kondella, Rhys Grainger, Jasper Powell, Callum Pearce, Shaun Bowditch, Morgan Burgess, Lloyd Harris, Lucas Hickman. This was another good game of rugby played in a good spirit by both teams and although Ponty didn’t manage a victory the boys can be proud of the way they performed and the effort and commitment they showed. With half a dozen boys missing due to illness and also being away for Easter a lot of the boys played the last part of the game with injuries but refused to give up which shows great commitment to their follow players knowing that there were no subs to call upon. Well done boys. The coaches’ decision for Man of the Match went to scrum half Callum Pearce
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