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Page 1 of 2 It was heartbreak for Ponty Youth 1, when they crashed out of the District Cup after drawing with Llantrisant Youth 3-3 In a game that was poor on quality, Ponty should have won, however a slow start and some poor decision-making a crucial times cost Ponty potential scores.
Ponty were once again below strength with centre Lewis Egal, wings Parker and Williams, full back/wing Hughes and prop Dale Pugh all unavailable for this crucial game. In addition Ponty star Sam Studley was also not fully fit and therefore only able to take a place on the bench. Ponty started poorly and put themselves under needless pressure, when poor clearance kicks and wrong options in defence were preventing Ponty from clearing their lines. Ponty still had scoring opportunities and after a great break by Ponty 8 Dean Maisey, sliced open the Llantrisant defence, Ponty should have scored, but the pass from Maisey was delayed, allowing the full back to complete a great wrap tackle to stop Maisey giving a gift of a pass to supporting centre Dan Dearden who would have been able to walk in for an easy try. Llantrisant started to play the territory game and continued to try to use their pack to maul over in the Ponty half, although the Ponty pack were more than a match for them, and stopped every maul short showing great defensive work. Sadly for Ponty all this work was wasted, when poor clearance kicks put them back under pressure. It was after a poor kick that the referee yellow carded Ponty lock Nathaniel Williams for offside at a ruck, and although Llantrisant kicked to the corner to set up a driving lineout, the 7 man Ponty pack was still too strong and easily stopped the score. Half Time score 0-0 The second half saw Ponty introduce scrum half Studley and Ponty immediately upped the tempo, a brilliant cross kick from Ponty 10 saw wing Padfield collect in acres of space only to be harshly denied by the referee who as evidenced by the match video incorrectly ruled Padfield off side. From the Penalty Llantrisant kicked for the corner and again attacked from the line out. Ponty seemed to have stopped the attack, however the referee awarded Llantrisant a simple penalty 15m out in fron of the posts for offside in midfield, allowing Llantrisant to open the scoring. Pontypridd 0 - Llantrisant3. Ponty went back on the attack, and great play from Studley, Smith and Dearden, saw wing Max Padfield away for what seemed the games opening try, however the score was disallowed for a forward pass. Ponty again made silly mistakes and on two occasions opted to run penalties on the Llantrisant 10m rather than attempt a kick at goal. The game was all Ponty now, and after some great driving play from Studley and the Ponty forwards, Llantrisant were penalised for killing the ball at the ruck and Ponty full back Simms opened Ponty's scores 3-3. Ponty were now controlling the game and after a series of rampaging runs by the forwards, Studley was able to win quick ruck ball and spin the ball left to Smith who used Dearden as a decoy to fire a miss pass to Fullback Simms who entered the line at pace, bursting between the centre and wing to create a great overlap deep in the Llantrisant 22m, but once again the move was halted by the referees whistle for another forward pass. At the resulting scrum Ponty pack leader Thomas checked with the referee and with three minutes remaining Ponty needed to get the winning score. A great drive by the Ponty scrum, and tenacious hassling by Studley put the Llantrisant half backs under pressure, and a poor clearance kick went straight to Ponty centre Dearden who went on a powerful run into the heart of the Llantrisant defence. Poor passing from the ruck saw Ponty back-pedalling and with the chance of a snap drop goal had evaporating open-side Gristock bravely picked up the loose ball and fed fly-half Smith, who threaded a beautiful kick into the far right corner before being clattered to the ground in a dangerous late tackle, that went unpunished. Ponty wing Waters chased the kick and bundled the Llantrisant full back into touch on the 5m line to win Ponty a final chance from the line out. To the frustration of the Ponty players and supporters even though the referee allowed the line out to form, he decided to consult the Llantrisant linesman, before deciding to bring the game to a close with shades of the six nations Italy Wales game. Final score 3-3, and with no extra time being allowed, Llantrisant progressed to the quarter finals at the expense of Ponty, on the basis of the Ponty having home advantage. Ponty man of the match was lock Christian Hitt, who put in an eye catching performance before leaving the field with a calf injury.
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