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Page 1 of 2 PONTYPRIDD v PENCOED v MAERDY 25th NOVEMBER 2007-11-25
Game 1: Pontypridd U9’s 15 Pencoed U9’s 0 The season so far has seen the boy’s confidence and ability increase with each passing game and training session. The first match of the season had been a tough encounter, and a narrow victory against Pencoed and here was a genuine chance to measure the teams’ development to date compared to our early season opponents. The Wales v South African game the day before was hardly mentioned, everyone was focused on Pencoed, wondering if the boys performance in the first match could be repeated, or would Pencoed be able to avenge that season opener defeat. The minutes ticked by, the tension grew and finally, eventually, Captain Rhodri Smith took the ball and kicked off deep into the Pencoed half amidst a crescendo of cheers and shouts from the watching crowd. The first encounter between the teams had seen Ponty struggle to hold back their opponents for most of the match before eventually coming out on top, this time it seemed the roles might be reversed. The boys rushed up in defence and as is now their trademark drove back Pencoed with each tackle and ruck that passed, their determination as evident as their chasing and harrying. Pencoed stood firm, didn’t panic and tried to recycle the ball and clear their line, their coach urging his players forward and they in turn trying hard to respond to him. The deadlock was broken on 4 minutes by Jay ‘ The Pocket Battleship’ Jones much to the relief of the home supporters, and when he struck again after 7 minutes you could feel the confidence of the Ponty crowd grow, the question seemingly answered, the boys had become a much better team. The endeavour on the field from both teams was immense and heroic, tackles were being made with an audible thud that could be heard 50 yards away, but Ponty were in the ascendancy and just before half time Griff ‘ Greased Lightning’ Lloyd went over for a well deserved third Ponty try. The second half proved even tougher than the first, Pencoed desperate to show their ability, their players tackling like demons, their supporters shouting encouragement, but as hard as they tried the Ponty defence held firm. The team to a man stood up and weathered the onslaught, neither side quite capable of breaking through the other, the second half remained scoreless but was undoubtedly one of the most entertaining and enthralling 10 minutes of rugby seen this season. The commitment and passion showed by both sides exhibited how much both teams wanted to win, the shouts of joy and despair at the final whistle telling it’s own story, but, there were now still two games to be played. Game 2: Pontypridd U9’s 15 Pencoed U9’s 0 Pencoed, like Ponty have a large squad of players which they rotated for their second match which they narrowly lost against Maerdy, so it was effectively the same team as in the first game that was fielded for the second match against Pontypridd, whose team now showed wholesale changes. The ethic and ethos of the Ponty team is the same whichever group of players take the field though, and like the first game the physical match up between the two sides produced a thrilling encounter. Ponty’s swarming defence again gained the advantage early on and again Jay ‘The Pocket Battleship, Jones broke the deadlock after 3 minutes. The tackling and rucking of both sides was exemplary, however, Ponty were now showing more enterprise and trying to move the ball through the hands away from the contact area, physically the teams were evenly matched but Ponty seemed to have more pace out wide and on 8 minutes a fine flowing move saw Lloyd Owens cross to give Ponty a fine lead at half time. Ponty continued to try and pass the ball in the second half, Pencoed, unlike some teams we have met this season refused to capitulate and came back hard at the start of the second half, threatening to break through a number of times only to be denied by some brave last ditch Ponty tackling. Finally, after 14 minutes, Carl Blacker with pace and sidesteps that would put Shane Williams to shame wrapped up the match with Ponty’s third and final try. The two games had turned out to be epic encounters, as they had been at the start of the season, the games had been extraordinarily physical, but, all credit to both teams, the games were played in a tremendous spirit with no malicious tackles or little niggles in the rucks, that however was all about to change….! Game 3 Pontypridd U9’s 45 Maerdy U9’s 15 Ponty’s third game was against Maerdy, who have a small squad and indeed only brought a team of 7 players. They had shown in victory against Pencoed that they had blistering pace through their team, and with only 7 players a side were looking to take full advantage of the space available on the pitch. This would present Ponty with a totally different challenge to Pencoed, and whilst Ponty started well scoring through Chris Temple on 4 minutes, the driving defence and ferocious rucking they showed against Pencoed was strangely absent. It was somewhat surprising therefore that Ponty went further ahead after 8 minutes when Josh Barnes doubled the Ponty score. Maybe it was tiredness, maybe complacency, but the passion and cohesion of the first two games was lacking, and Maerdy took full advantage scoring twice in quick succession to level the score and raise the anxiety levels of the home supporters. Luckily for Ponty they quickly realised Maerdy were a dangerous side and pulled themselves together to allow Griff ‘ Greased Lighning’ Lloyd and Chris Temple (again) to score before half time. Throughout the first half the mood of the game had grown increasingly dark and during the second half threatened to spiral out of control. The amount of off the ball incidents grew and eventually one of the Maerdy players was sin binned. Ponty, rather than play with an extra man also then reduced their numbers. Maerdy had shown they have fine skills and look to play in an attractive and entertaining way, it was disappointing therefore that they systematically lost their focus and discipline in the second half. Ponty on the other hand now had all the motivation they needed, their passion and determination returned in abundance and they began to the move the ball with pace and precision. Their intimidating, dominating defence returned, they started hitting the rucks as they had against Pencoed and most importantly they kept their discipline. The second half saw Callum Hall, Rhodri Smith, Rhys ‘Little’ Britton, Carl Blacker and Daffydd Smith all crossing the try line as the coaches swapped players every other minute to ensure the whole squad were involved in what turned out to be a very comfortable and satisfying victory. The morning had been exciting, enthralling and full of incident, the supporters were almost as exhausted as the players! Ponty had again shown they have the skills and determination to match most teams, and just as importantly had shown their ability to maintain their discipline and channel their determination into playing fine, attractive and expansive rugby….any one know Warren Gatland’s telephone number??
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