Pontypridd Youth (1) 26 – 5 Ystrad RhonddaPonty senior youth hosted near neighbours Ystrad Rhondda at Sardis on Saturday, hoping to continue their drive up the Division B National Youth League table. TRY Scorers for Pontypridd: Marc Jones and Lewis Smith. Rhys Simms kicked 4 Penalties & 2 Conversions.
Ponty were without impressive centre Dan Dearden who was on holiday, and Powerful lock Nathaniel Williams who has recently undergone surgery on his troublesome shoulder. Also absent fro Ponty were Rhys Lloyd and James Mountjoy (work), Aaron Steverson and Steven Parker (injury). So Ponty drafted in promising young Blues flanker Aaron Atkins from the Youth 2 squad to make his League debut for the Senior squad on permit. Ystrad Rhondda Youth are a formidable side this year on paper with around 10 players involved in the various Blues squads, and with a few players having also earned International honours such as former Ponty lock Gareth Capelin who left Ponty preferring to play his Youth Rugby at Ystrad. The game started well for Ponty, when Ystrad failed to deal with the kick off. Ponty were able to put the Ystrad defence under considerable pressure and good rucking saw Ponty steal possession. With the ruck won, Ponty were about to launch an attacking move when the Ystrad hooker charged in from the side of the ruck to kill the ball, earning Ponty a difficult penalty that was converted by Simms from near the 10 metre line. Ponty 3 Ystrad 0. Ystrad bounced right back and started to put Ponty under some pressure. With the impressive Harry Allen in their back line, they were always going to prove a threat in midfield, but superb midfield defence from Lewis Smith, Lewis Egal and Rhys Simms (who had moved up to centre to replace the absent Dearden) was more than a match for Ystrad. When Ponty stopped an attack near the half way, it seemed as if they had won a penalty when openside Dafydd Gristock had brilliantly jackled the ball free from the tackled player. Unfortunately the referee deemed he had acted illegally awarding the penalty to Ystrad, and when Ponty argued they were quickly sent further back, conceding a needless 10 further metres. A brilliant kick saw Ystrad win a 5 m lineout, and from a simple catch and drive, they were able to crash over wide on the right for the opening try of the game, that went unconverted. Ponty 3 Ystrad 5. Ponty returned to the attack and were very unlucky not to score themselves. Ponty won a lineout on the Ystrad 22 and called a set short line out move. It worked perfectly with the ball being fed to the hard running Aaron Atkins, who drove through the cover defence, sending defenders sprawling, only for him to lose his grip on the ball just a metre short, preventing him from scoring what would have been an impressive debut try. Ponty were not to be thwarted for long and when Ystrad were again penalised for killing the ball at the ruck area, Ponty were able to take play into the Ystrad 22. Great running from Ponty scrum half Sam Studley and Flyhalf Lewis Smith opened up the Ystrad Defence before a desperate tackle stopped supporting Dean Maisey close to the line. Maisey offloaded in contact and the ball was taken on by giant lock Geraint Rowley. Rowley was also held up on the line before Ponty recycled the ball and Studley fed prop James Sullivan who had started a run from deep on Studleys left. Sullivan clattered through a number of tackles before setting up another ruck only inches short of the line, prop Marc Jones picked up at the ruck and powered through the Ystrad pack, to score the opening try for Ponty. It was prop Jones' third try in as many games, and he is brimming with confidence now that he's joined the Pontypridd Senior training squad. Simms again converted the kick from wide on the Ponty right, taking Ponty into a 10 - 5 lead. Ystrad were struggling to get into the game and for all their Blues talent, the only place they were really dominating Ponty was at the scrum, however at line out, ruck, maul and behind the scrum they were getting out thought and out played. Ponty were now starting to unleash their impressive back line, and Studley and Smith were now regularly opening up the defence, with centre Egal in eye-catching form, and the pace of Simms, Waters and Evans causing real problems for the Ystrad back line. It was from one of these moves that Ponty's next score came. Once again great running from the threequarters had won Ponty a ruck at the edge of the Ystrad 22. Ystrad once again dived into the ruck killing the ball, earning a long lecture from Referee Mr Roper, and another penalty for Ponty that was converted by Simms. Ponty 13 Ystrad 5. Ystrad now seemed determined to take the fight to Ponty, although in some cases too literally, and when their full back continued to rain punches on Ponty lock Christian Hitt near the half way line, Mr Roper had no option than to issue a yellow card, winning Ponty yet another penalty that Simms brilliantly converted from near half way, to take the half time score to Pontypridd Senior Youth 16 Ystrad Rhondda 5. Ystrad kicked off the second half and put Ponty under considerable pressure in the right hand corner of the field. Ponty were forced to defend their line for more than 5 minutes whilst Ystrad launched wave after wave of close range attacks. Fortunately for Ponty their defence held firm, and when Ystrad tried to force an overlap by firing a long pass to their right wing metres from the Ponty try line, the ball as dropped, and although Ponty were under tremendous pressure at the scrum, they were able to win the put in, allowing scrum half Studley to clear his lines with a towering box kick, that Ystrad failed to collect cleanly taking play to a scrum near half way. From the retreating scrum Ponty no 8 Dean Maisey bravely picked up and drove into the Ystrad defence, with Studley Atkins and Gristock in close support, when the ruck was won, flyhalf Smith broke left before feeding outstanding wing Billy Waters who rounded his opposite number, cut inside the cover defence and then sprinted fully 30 metres to dive in near the corner flag through the attempted tackle of the full back. Waters and the Ponty supporters were convinced he had scored another trade mark try, but the referee wasn't sure the ball was grounded correctly and awarded Ponty a 5 metre scrum. With the scrum under pressure Ponty lost the ball against the head, however with the Ystrad no 8 forced to pick up near his line, he was tackled by Gristock and Atkins before he could off load and a maul was set up right on the Ystrad try line. With Ystrad taking the ball in they were keen to secure the ball for the clearance kick, however giant Ponty Prop James Sullivan showed magnificent strength to rip possession off the Ystrad pack and spin round over the try line for what again appeared like Ponty's second try. This time Mr Roper was unsighted as he had been the opposite side of the maul, and with a number of Ystrad players claiming they had been under the ball when Sullivan crashed over, Mr Roper again awarded an attacking scrum. This time Ponty secured possession and spun the ball wide, full back Alun Thomas came in on the crash ball, before feeding centre Lewis Egal who burst through, to set up a ruck 5 metres short, however the Ponty pack were penalised for not staying on their feet and the danger was cleared. Ponty wing Billy Waters was now totally dominating his opposite number, and every time the ball moved to the left wing, Waters had the better of his opponent. With this clear advantage on the left Ponty captain Lewis Smith exploited it brilliantly when after great approach work by lock Christian Hitt, Dean Maisey and Marc Jones, Smith received quick ball from Studley, and broke left dummying the expected pass to Waters, before sprinting over untouched himself for a great solo try, that was again converted by Simms. Pontypridd 23 - Ystrad Rhondda 5. Ponty were now forced to ring the changes. Firstly outstanding lock Christian Hitt suffered ankle ligament damage when caught at the bottom of a ruck and was replaced by Owain Kingsbury, then his lock partner Geraint Rowley suffered a broken nose and was replaced by Sam Oliver, with Mike Davies moving from hooker to lock. Shortly afterwards impressive debutante Aaron Atkins received a blow to the mouth that caused a nasty injury forcing Atkins off, replaced by Ryan Owen, who himself was carrying a knee injury and James Sullivan suffered a blow to the Kidneys and was replaced by Dean Brown. The reshuffle effected Ponty's line out and with the scrum also under pressure, it was important that Ponty tried to keep the ball alive and avoid set piece play for the last 10 minutes. Ponty continued to move the ball quickly from the ruck and maul area, and despite the changes in the pack, they were still the dominant side in loose play. Once again Ponty were able to win quick ball and attack from near half way. Again the ball was moved to Waters on the left who this time took his opposite wing on the inside before cutting infield to look for the support of Smith Egal and Simms, before being floored by an ugly challenge from the covering openside flanker. Ponty were awarded the penalty but unfortunately on this occasion the kick fell short. From the clearance kick, Ponty full back Alun Thomas launched another attack, finding firstly Gristock then Atkins and then Maisey in support to carry the move on. Maisey ran powerfully before feeding Studley and then Smith, this time the eye catching Waters popped up in between the centres to take the pass from Smith before bursting through the defence. With only the full back to beat, Waters stood him up, before side stepping him, only to be felled by a short arm across the throat that warranted at least a yellow card. As the full back had already been yellow carded for his attack on Hitt, this could have been the end of his game, however the referee decided to issue a stern warning and a penalty to Ponty, which Simms again converted to take the final score to Pontypridd Senior Youth 26 Ystrad Rhondda 5. This was one of the Senior Youths most impressive performances of the year. They had totally outplayed and outclassed a very good side filled with players who had representative honours. Although Ponty had not been at full strength, the players who were selected on the day had all stood up and been counted, and all 22 players deserve credit for their creative play, superb defence and discipline in the face of some pretty robust action from the opposition. Once again the performance of Billy Waters was exceptional and he is proving week in week out what a talented rugby player he is. The half backs were outstanding yesterday, with Studley and Smith working miracles when the scrum was under pressure, and controlling the game superbly, varying the plays to keep the Ystrad defence confused. Lock Christian Hitt was impressive having a great game both in the middle of the line out and in the loose and it was no surprise that Ystrad only started to dominate the line out after Hitt left the field injured. Aaron Atkins had a magnificent league debut for the Senior youth, proving what an exciting talent he is, and revelling in the chance to play his preferred position. This weeks man of the match award is shared between Rhys Simms and Dean Maisey. Simms although playing out of position at outside centre, had his best game of the season to date, causing problems with his blistering pace, and kicking superbly both from hand and at goal, converting 6 of his 7 attempts. Maisey gave a true pack leaders performance. He was magnificent in defence putting in eye watering tackles, and his work rate and support play was inspirational. He put his body on the line time after time, and rose above the over physical challenges of some of the opposition to totally dominate the opposition back row. Match Photos... [REPORT BY: Sean Oliver, Senior Youth Coach]
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