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Page 1 of 3 Saturday 5th May not only saw the last match at Sardis for the Chief and Dafydd, but the evening also hosted two big parties, a party for the chief and the awards evening for the under 13’s section.
In the clubhouse there was a party or the chief with many, many former Ponty players along with current and past international players, all there to pay their respects to a kiwi that has been Ponty’s rock for almost twenty years. Whilst in the Grandstand the under 13’s were rewarded for their commitment to the club after a long, hard season. Every player received a player’s trophy and certificate for representing Pontypridd RFC, except for recent singings Carl Hardy and Paul Minty whose late addition to the squad meant they only received certificates. There were several trophies presented on the night to those that had contributed positively and shown great skill or dedication throughout the season. To present the trophies were Pontypridd RFC players Chris Dicomidis, Chris Clayton, Leighton Davies and Gavin Dacey. Whilst during the evening the entire Pontypridd senior team popped in to pose for photographs and sign autographs for the younger players, thank you all. Thanks also to former Ponty stalwarts Kevin Morgan and Robert Sidoli who gladly made the effort to take time out from enjoying themselves and pose for team photographs with the youngsters. The Under 13’s team, management and players would particularly like to thank the Chief, who took time out of his own party to call over and even found time to give an inspiring speech on what the club means to him and how the players should wear the badge with pride, passion and dignity; an important message that we hope all young players take on board. Certificates were awarded for Best Newcomer of the Year to Kurt Shmylo our resident Australian and for Forwards Player of the Year to Nathan Payne. There were three major awards with cups presented for the Player of the Year (as decided by all four coaches), the Players Player of the Year (that was the result of a players ballot) and for Most Committed Player (that was awarded on attendance, behaviour and dedication throughout the season). The Player of the Year award went to Dale Hughes who has had another outstanding season. Throughout the year the opposition coaches having awarded him the most man of the match awards and for the third season in a row Dale has finished as the team’s top try scorer. Dale’s last match this season was his 106th for the club since he joined at under 10’s and he has scored a total of 104 tries for the team. Despite Dale getting the award and the accolades, there were several players whose performances this season had put them in contention and who also deserve a mention. Running Dale close were Jordan Jevons who has been an inspiration since moving to centre, Joel Raikes who again showed his quality in either halfback position, open-side Nathan Payne who continually put his body on the line to win opposition ball and second row Kurt Shmylo, who despite being a rugby league player and unfamiliar with union forwards play, has been the leading light in the pack this season. With the players maturing and becoming more responsible it was decided to once again have a players vote on the Players Player of the Year. The players put six names forward; these were Joel Raikes, Jordan Jevons, Kurt Shmylo, Dale Hughes, Garin Rossiter and Chris Jones. Again Dale’s performances shone through and he clearly topped the pole, four votes in front of his halfback partner Joel. With Dale’s name already on the coaches Player of the Year trophy, this caused much soul searching amongst the coaches, particularly myself as I would have liked to share the trophies out. Discussions continued all day, as it was felt that maybe we should give the award to Joel Raikes who was in second place and equally deserving of the award. But it was felt that this would be injustice to the players who voted, that they were grown up enough to have their decisions respected and old enough to accept the situation. So for the second year in a row the Player’s Player of the Year went again to Dale Hughes. The Most Committed Player justly went to Morgan Rees who did not miss a single match all season. Being the smallest player in the squad and with the sheers size of opposition players at this age grade, Morgan has had to sit on the bench for most of the season. But not once has he complained or failed to attend training; even turning up whilst injured. For this he deserves the respect of his peers and the award. Special mention should also be made to Jordan Jevons and Garin Rossiter, who trained regularly and only missed one match each during the season. Season review… The season started with the visit of the Ospreys Cup Winners Tondu who showed the class that won them the cup and the level we need to achieve to be successful as a side. The rest of September was far more fruitful with comfortable wins against Abercynon and Llantrisant; in the latter we scored 8 tries to 1. October was a tough month that started with a hammering over Ynysybwl of 64-0, where we scored a fantastic 10 tries to nil. Unfortunately we were knocked off track by Porth as they fielded several over aged players just to win… HEADS were down for visit of Pontypool and the Llantwit, where our performances were admittedly poor. However the end of the month saw us visit Rhiwbina and despite the absence of several key players, they only just beat us in the dying minutes of an enthralling and very equal match. November was better, starting with a loss to the classy Greenstars, but we finished the month on a high with two wins, where the lads played some fantastic barbarian rugby. The first match was a hard victory over a revitalised Abercynon, where despite being 12-0 down at the break, we recovered to win 22-12. Next was a trip to Brecon where Joel starred with a deserving hatrick in a 9-try rout over what was a very strong side with several Heart of Wales District players. December was 50-50 with a hammering of a poor Maerdy side and a loss to Pontyclun, though in the latter the lads had to play against 16, with a bias ref that threatened to send off Warren for disagreeing with his atrocious decisions?? The New Year started with a heavy loss to Pontypool, though the players can’t be blamed as they were reduced to 13 players for most of he match and our Ponty district players were unavailable… We fell foul to another poor referee at Llantrisant where we lost a game that to all present we clearly won… The referee gifted them two tries from interceptions by players in blatant offside positions and denied us at least one clear try that if allowed would have justly won us the game. Next up was the Cardiff & Vale Champions Pentyrch…In an unbelievably quick match they showed their class and ran out deserving winners, but our boys gained respect with an impressive fight back… Fitz decided to impersonate a banshee and ran head-on screaming into the Pentyrch ranks whenever he got the ball, whilst Dale hit back with four unforgettable tries, one of which must be try of the season. Who there can forget Dale received the ball behind his own try line and his coaches shouting at him to clear his lines with a kick into touch, yet Dale decided that he could take on the Cardiff champions on his own, and he did! Dale ran straight through the Pentyrch pack, leaving their forwards grasping at thin air and the usually lightning quick Cardiff backs were left trailing in his wake as Dale ran full length to score unopposed under the posts. February saw a tough encounter at Llantwit, where we dominated the match, but were beaten out wide by their stronger and faster players. Maerdy again was an easy win, despite Fitz and Dale giving them an early lead… March was our poorest month with three losses, the first to Winnington, the second to the outstanding Osprey Cup Holders Tondu, where the players minds were clearly not on the match… The third was another game against Pontypool, where with heads down we conceded too many soft tries and despite a brave fight back, the lads left themselves too much to do. April picked up the team spirit with a draw against Tonyrefail despite several key players missing, before a loss to our old rivals Treorchy, where the lads did well, competing throughout despite losing their midfield for most of the match. The month ended with a fantastic day in Coventry where we deservingly finished runners up and possibly could have gone one better had we not faced the favourites in our very first match… Barkers Butts Tournament Report... Given the players available we were always going to suffer this season against teams with big or fast backs and that’s exactly what happened, no disrespect to our players, but we have no large backs and no wide players with exceptional pace, unlike several of our rivals and despite the best effort of our players, we were often caught wanting in this department. But it’s hoped that the new players we have recruited in the closing weeks of the season will give a better balance to the side for next year and create competition for places that should raise everyone’s game… Special thanks to all those involved in coaching the side this year, to Warren who has created a formidable scrummaging unit out of the pack, to Simon who has had a huge influence on the general fitness of the team and to Andrew who has kindly assisted with the coaching since his son joined earlier in the season. A special thanks goes to Samantha Rees, who ran and organised the fundraising that will see the team travel to Holland at the end of May to participate in the Dukes International Tournament and who has acted as team physio throughout the season. A big thank you also to Leighton Jones for handling the team accounts, collecting the subs and keeping track of scores or scorers during matches. Thanks once more to our shirt sponsors Preece Removals of Pontypridd and Tonyrefail Upholstery. Thanks to R & B Plastering for sponsoring the team newsletter and to S & T Cabs for sponsoring the Dukes Tour. Most importantly, thanks to the players and parents, without whose dedication there would be no team. Thank you… Presentation Evening photos... Pontypridd Under 13’s squad 2006/7: FORWARDS: Paul Minty (prop/flanker), Johnathan Griffin (Prop), Jamie Thomas (second row), Cory McCarthy (second row), Steffan Jenkins (No.8/flanker), Oliver Dalley (second row), Alex Knowles (N.8/flanker), Nathan Wyle (second row), Adam Harcombe (Prop/flanker), Jake Lewis (hooker), Gareth Cleaver (Flanker/prop), Kurt Schmylo (second row), Nathan Payne (lanker), Will Thomas (Prop) and Michael Connor (Captain – No.8/Prop). BACKS: Carl Hardy (Centre/flanker), Liam Williams (Centre/wing), Morgan Rees (wing/fullback), Alex Logan (fullback), Jordan Kemp (scrumhalf/fullback), Oliver Bailey (wing), Joel Raikes (scrumhalf/outside-half), Chris Jones (wing/scrumhalf), Garin Rossiter (fullback/wing), Mikey Jones (wing), Jordan Jevons (centre/hooker) and Dale Hughes (Outside half/centre). The squad would like to welcome Daryl Jones (prop) and Josh Edwards (wing/second row) who have joined ready for next season. Manager: Neil Hughes Coaches: Warren Rossiter, Simon Rees and Andrew Kemp. Secretary & Physio: Samantha Rees Treasurer: Leighton Jones Referee: Mark Griffiths Team Captain: Michael Connor Backs captain: Joel Raikes AWARDS: Player of the Year: Dale Hughes Players Player of the Year: Dale Hughes Most Committed Player: Morgan Rees Forward of the Year: Nathan Payne Best Newcomer: Kurt Shmylo Top Point & Try scorer: Dale Hughes Most man of the match Awards: Dale Hughes Congratulations on District Rugby representation this season to: Johnathan Griffin, Nathan Payne, Steffan Jenkins, Michael Connor, Joel Raikes, Liam Williams, Paul Minty (all for Pontypridd District) and to Dale Hughes (Rhondda District). TEAM STATISTICS NAME | STARTS | SUB | MoM | Tries | Kicks | Points | Will Thomas | 24 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 15 | Jordan Jevons | 32 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 94 | Johnathan Griffin | 27 | 4 |
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| Jake Lewis | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Kurt Shmylo | 20 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 20 | Steffan Jenkins | 15 | 10 |
| 2 | | 10 | Nathan Payne | 18 |
| 2 | 1 |
| 5 | Michael Connor | 31
| 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 40 | Chris Jones | 28 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Dale Hughes | 29 | 2 | 8 | 34 | 6 | 182 | Joel Raikes | 23 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 93 | Liam Williams | 23 | 6 |
| 2 | 7 | 24 | Adam Harcombe | 13 | 2 |
| 2 |
| 10 | Oliver Bailey | 29 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| 65 | Mikey Jones | 28 | 7 | 1 | 4 |
| 20 | Garin Rossiter | 32 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 81 | Morgan Rees | 12 | 25 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Gareth Cleaver | 19 | 6 | 1 | 4 |
| 20 | Alex Knowles | 26 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| 25 | Nathan Wyle | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Jordan Kemp | 20 | 6 | 1 |
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| Alex Logan | 8 | 11 | 1 |
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| Oliver Dalley | 26 | 8
| 1 | 2 |
| 10 | James Thomas | 16 | 7 |
| 1 |
| 5 | Cory McCarthy | 6 | 2 |
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| Paul Minty | 7 |
| 2 |
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| Carl Hardy | 4 |
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Players Left/Transfered During Season Josh Pritchard Played: 4, Tries: 3, Points: 15 Dan Williams Played 2
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