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Page 1 of 2 YOUTH Aberdare 15 – 13 Pontypridd Pontypridd youth travelled to high-flying Aberdare for a friendly fixture on Saturday. Aberdare are three divisions above Ponty and are currently top of their division, with an unbeaten league record. In fact Aberdare have only lost two of their 25 fixtures to date this season, so Ponty knew they faced a real challenge.
Ponty were badly effected by player unavailability for this fixture and could only field a squad of twenty for the game, with two of those players, Owain Kingsbury and Jon Reid, only being fit for bench duty. Tom Newberry, Cai Daniels, Ben Miles and Nic Upcott had other commitments, whilst Dafydd Gristock, Liam Stacey and Stephen Parker were all injured. The start of the game saw lots of huff and puff, but no real pattern of play from either side, with play mainly around centre field. Aberdare had the stronger set piece game and their whole team were far bigger and more physical than their Ponty counterparts, however the Ponty defence was first class, coping well with the physical approach of the home side. Ponty had the opportunity to open the scoring after ten minutes, when scrum half Sam Studley won a penalty when Aberdare were penalised for not releasing in the tackle, although full back Simms was narrowly wide on this occasion. Aberdare were soon awarded a penalty for a similar offence and successfully converted it to open a 3-0 lead. Ponty got back into the play and a great counterattack, started from flying wing Lewis Williams after a wayward Aberdare kick, saw Full back Simms take play deep into the Aberdare half, before Aberdare were penalised for deliberately killing the ball. Simms made no mistake with the kick to tie the scores at 3 apiece, although Ponty lost Lewis Williams to a recurrence of a long-standing hamstring problem, with Max Padfield the replacement. Ponty were then put under intense pressure deep in their own half, with Aberdare using their power pack to maul toward the Ponty line. Excellent work by the Ponty pack stopped the maul seven metres short. The big Aberdare loose-head peeled away from the maul towards the try line, but an excellent low tackle from Ponty hooker Sam Oliver cut him down just short and Ponty Openside Mike Davies tore the ball away to clear for touch. From the resulting line out Aberdare drove the maul for the line, but again Ponty stopped the maul dead and Aberdare were forced to go to ground. When a gap appeared in the middle of the collapsed maul, hooker Oliver burst through the middle to "sack" the Aberdare scrum half in possession, but was harshly penalised as the referee wasn't convinced he had come from the "back" foot. Aberdare took the penalty quickly but excellent tackling from Ponty blindside Alun Thomas stopped the move dead with the ball being spilled in the tackle. With the danger seemingly over, Ponty fly half Smith fumbled the pass from the scrum-half over his own line, conceding a 5m scrum to Aberdare that they eventually finished off with a converted try to take the score to 10 -3. Ponty were not prepared to lie down and a series of powerful runs from centres Dan Dearden and Lewis Egal, along with full back Rhys Simms, saw Ponty set up a maul deep in the Aberdare twenty-two. With the forwards driving the maul towards the try line, Aberdare hauled it down to collapse it, the referee cried play on and as Ponty tried to free the ball it was scooped back by an Aberdare hand over the try line, where Ponty's Sam Studley was first to react pouncing to claim the try. To the frustrations of the Ponty players and supporters the referee disallowed the obvious score to award Ponty a scrum instead where the maul had collapsed that eventually came to nothing. Ponty were soon back on the attack and desperate to level scores before half time. Once again when the marauding Ponty back row of Maisey, Davies and Thomas caught Aberdare in possession close to their line, the Aberdare pack dived into the tackle area to kill the ball. Ponty were awarded a penalty ten metres out and while the referee gave the Aberdare pack a stern warning, No8 Dean Maisey had drifted unmarked to the blindside wing. However giant lock Nathaniel Williams took the penalty himself and powered to the try line quickly followed by the rest of the pack and although Williams was clearly driven over the line, the referee wasn't happy that the ball was grounded and the try was disallowed bringing an end to the half. At half time the Ponty coach asked the referee to clarify his earlier decision not to award Studley’s try, to which he apologised and said with hindsight it was probably a fair score, but it happened so quickly he had been unsighted and thought the fairest thing to both sides would be to restart with a Ponty scrum? Jon Reid despite struggling with a groin injury replaced Drew Evans and Marc Jones came on for Ponty at prop as giant prop James Sullivan was clearly struggling with the heat? The second half started badly for Ponty when a loss of concentration saw them lose a scrum against the head on their own ten-metre line. The Aberdare no.8 picked up quickly, taking out Studley and Smith. The ball was recycled quickly and in text book fashion quick hands saw the winger cross for an excellent try wide out that was unconverted. Although now two scores behind, the Aberdare pack seemed to be tiring in the heat and the Ponty Pack were starting to punch holes in the Aberdare defence. After some excellent approach work by the pack, Ponty launched a set move where Centre Dearden transfixed the defence with an excellent dummy run, allowing fly half Smith to cut past his opposite number to dummy his way to the try line for an unconverted try. The kick off from Aberdare went straight to full back Simms who launched a brilliant counter attack from deep, feeding Dearden who took out two tacklers before offloading to his centre partner Lewis Egal, who burst twenty metres and in text book fashion drew the fullback before offloading to replacement flanker Jon Reid who was up in support. Reid did outstandingly well, as despite suffering from a groin injury, he sprinted deep into the Aberdare twenty two before being hauled down, but sadly for Ponty, with flying winger Williams having left the field early, there was nobody in support and the move died. Aberdare although dominant at the line out with Ponty's Drew Evans having left the field, were starting to struggle at the scrum, where the Ponty Front row of Marc Jones, Sam Oliver and Dale Pugh were starting to drive their heavier opponents back. When Ponty won a scrum against the head on half way, Maisey was quick to pick up and take the ball on before offloading to Studley who was tackled just on the edge of the Aberdare twenty-two. Ponty tried to win quick ruck ball but were thwarted when retreating Aberdare forwards dived into the ruck from the Ponty side? The referee immediately awarded a penalty and the quick thinking Studley took it quickly to sprint away without a hand placed on him straight under the posts for what should have been the equalising score. However once again the referee thwarted Studley, disallowing the try, as he wanted to issue “a final general warning" to the Aberdare pack? Ponty were determined to get another score and after some great mauling work from Pugh, Maisey, Thomas and Reid, prop Marc Jones burst through the middle of the maul to claim his second try of the season. Fullback Simms lined up the kick to tie the scores and seemed to strike it beautifully, with the ball soaring very high over the posts, but as the Ponty spectators and players celebrated, the referee ruled the ball had just drifted wide to the right? Ponty quickly resumed the pressure in the Aberdare half and were awarded another penalty for the Aberdare openside handling at the ruck. Studley and Captain Smith entered a long discussion with the referee to check the scores as they wanted to kick at goal. The referee told them incorrectly Ponty were five points behind not two, a number of Ponty players now confronted the referee as they were convinced he was wrong, however after he checked the score card in his sock, he again repeated incorrectly that Ponty were five points behind, so Ponty spurned the kick at goal and went for the corner. An excellent move at the line out between Nathaniel Williams and Oliver, saw Williams power to the Aberdare line and when his fellow pack members drove him over flanker Reid ripped the ball to go to ground. The ball was clearly grounded to the view of all the spectators on the right, but once again the referee said he wasn't happy with the grounding and awarded a scrum. From the scrum, Ponty moved the ball wide, but excellent defence from Aberdare saw Ponty lose possession and Aberdare clear their lines. With the game in the dying seconds, Ponty re-gathered possession on their own ten metre line and fly half Smith launched a long in field kick to the right for wing Ben Troake to chase. Troake easily overtook his opposite number, it appeared to be a straight race between Troake and the Aberdare fullback or openside flanker for the ball just ten metres from the try line. With Troake seeming destined to win the chase, the Aberdare flanker blatantly took Troake out as he tried to pass him, allowing the full back to reach the ball first and clear to touch. With Troake clearly impeded the Ponty players claimed a penalty, however the Referee waived their claims away and brought the game to an end with the final whistle. Final score Aberdare 15 Pontypridd 13. The Ponty players came out of this game with great credit, with the discipline the side demonstrated in the face of some clearly controversial refereeing decisions was a credit to them all. Despite the final Score the Pontypridd players and coaches knew they had won a moral victory, a view shared by the Aberdare coach after the match. After the game the referee would not be drawn on Studley's second half try other to say, he understood Ponty weren't happy that he didn't award the try from the quick penalty, but that he was frustrated with the professional fouls being committed by the Aberdare back row and felt he needed to give them a stern lecture to regain control of the game. There were some very good individual performances from the Pontypridd team, with flanker Alun "Beefy" Thomas, prop Marc Jones, no.8 Dean Maisey and centre Lewis Egal all putting in impressive performances, but pick of the side was clearly scrum half Sam Studley whose man of the match performance should have also included two clear tries if it had not been for the eccentricities of the referee on the day?Match Photos TRY scorers for Pontypridd: Lewis Smith and Marc Jones. Rhys Simms kicked one penalty.
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