|
Page 1 of 2 Pontypridd Youth (1) 43 - 3 Llantwit FardreAfter the disappointing loss to Treorchy Ponty knew they had to win all remaining fixtures to keep their promotion dream alive, and next up were neighbours Llantwit Fardre in a game switched from Sardis Road to Cilfynydd due to the Llanelli fixture.
Again the conditions were poor, however Pont knew they needed not only the win, but also to try to improve their points difference against a Llantwit Side who have had a difficult season. Ponty welcomed back Rhys Simms, James Sullivan and Mike Davies, but lost prop Dale Pugh (broken arm) and flanker Dafydd Gristock for this key fixture. Llantwit started brightly and were rewarded with an early penaly to take a 3 nil lead. Ponty however were in determined mood and captain Lewis Smith responded immediately when a set move saw him loop around decoy runners and slice open the Llantwit defence for a great try, converted by Rhys Simms. Virtually from kick off Smith tortured Llantwit again, when after great driving play from Ponty props Jones and Sullivan took play deep into the Llantwit half, Smith side stepped his opposite number and showed great strength and speed to ride a couple of tackles before crashing over for his second try that went unconverted. Ponty were now beginning to dominate and it was only Ponty handling errors that prevented Ponty from adding further tries. The Ponty scrum was impressive with James Sullivan, Sam Oliver and Marc Jones giving their opposite numbers a torrid time, despite the presence of Blues prop Ben Lee in the Llantwit side. Oliver was also beginning to find his jumpers and with lock Christian Hitt in impressive form after returning from injury, it was inevitable that Ponty would turn this pressure into points, and it came from a brilliant try from centre Dan Dearden after an impressive Ponty scrum. Simms converted to end the half Ponty 19 Llantwit Fardre 3. In the second half Ponty rang the changes, with Cai Daniel, Ross Griffiths and Dean Brown coming on in the Ponty pack, however it didn't alter the pattern of play, and Ponty soon extended their lead when a great break from the Ponty backs, found No8 Dean Maisy in support, and he crashed over wide on the right for an unconverted try. Ponty 24 Llantwit 3. Next on the scoresheet was scrum half Sam Studley. Prop Marc Jones had taken the ball 30 metres into the Llantwit half on a bullocking run, and with defenders falling off him, he cleverly slipped the ball to the supporting Studley, who spun the ball quickly to the left, before showing great support play to reappear on the left wing and take the scoring pass. Simms was again on target and Ponty were now 31 - 3 up. There was to be no let up for Llantwit and after another rampaging run from Marc Jones, Ponty were able to launch their backs from quick ruck ball, and when centre Lewis Egal was halted 10 metres short of the try line, giant lock Geraint Rowley was on hand to throw an outrageous dummy and crash over for another try converted by Simms. Ponty 38 Llantwit Fardre 3. Ponty were now starting to enjoy themselves and should have been rewarded with what would have been the try of the season. Prop Marc Jones, showed brilliant skills to scoop up a Llantwit clearance kick one handed in his own half and then run 30 metres, brushing off tackler after tackler, when he was eventually hauled down , he superbly offloaded one handed to centre Dan Dearden who raced away under the posts only to be called back by the referee who felt the scoring pass had been slightly forward. Ponty were not to be denied long, and when a set lineout move went to plan, flanker Alun Thomas crashed over from 15 metres for the final try to end the game Pontypridd 43 Llantwit Fardre 3. In a brillaint performance for Ponty, the whole squad showed their potential, but the man of the match award goes to Marc Jones, who has responded to his recent call up to the Senior training squad with a series of impressive performances of late, but this was undeniably his finest performance in a Ponty shirt.
 Add as favourites (35) |  Quote this article on your site | Views: 492
|
![BBCi: Javascript is not available on this browser](http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/bsp/hi/services/htmlsyndication/img/synd_js_error_js-inactive.gif")
