YOUTH TEAM WIN LEAGUE MATCHBB League St Peters 16 - 23 Pontypridd Youth (1) Ponty travelled to St Peters in Cardiff for a National Division 2 League game against struggling St Peters
St Peters have had a difficult season to date, having struggled with the demands of School rugby on their talented back line, most of whom play National first division schools rugby. Ponty were keen to move away from the bottom end of the table and saw this as an opportunity to steal some points away from home, however typical of Ponty's luck, St Peters had their schools players available for Saturdays fixture. Ponty were again below strength and only able to field a squad of 21, with Lock Christian Hitt, and flanker Mike Davies injured, Centre Rhys Lloyd and wings Aaron Steverson and Steve Parker ill, flanker Ryan Owen on college duty and prop Dean Brown representing Pontypridd Youth 2 on permit in the St Barts flask game. Playing up the slope and into a gale force wind, Ponty made the worst possible start, when a simple chip kick move from flyhalf Lewis Smith fell short in the wind, and on the muddy surface failed to bounce up, with both Ponty centres flying up for the kick, they were easily wrong footed and the St Peters 13 collected and raced under the posts for a gift of a try that was converted. St Peters 7 Pontypridd 0 Ponty soon realised they had the far stronger pack and turned to a more forward orientated game. With the outstanding front five of Marc Jones, James Sullivan, Cai Daniel, Geraint Rowley and Owain Kingsbury winning no less than 6 scrums against the head, it was clear if Ponty could keep the game tight, the scores would come. After another scrum won against the head by Cai Daniel, Ponty moved the ball quickly to the right wing, where Billy Waters sped past his opposite number, before rounding the fullback only to be hit with a try saving tackle 10 metres short, the Ponty back row of Gristock, Maisey and Thomas were quickly in support and the ball was popped to the big front five forwards on the charge. St Peters managed to hold the first charge off Sullivan, but when the ball was recycled and popped to prop Marc Jones who had started ta run from deep they had no answer, and Jones crashed through for a well deserved try, however with the wind, the kick was unconverted. St Peters were on the rack and struggling to get any platform for their dangerous backs who showed their potential when, after a series of powerful drives from the Ponty 8 were halted deep in the St Peters 22 when Ponty failed to release at a ruck, St Peters opted to run a quick penalty and were only just halted by two brilliant try saving tackles from Billy Waters and Rhys Simms close to the Ponty line. Ponty once again gifted points to St Peters, when from a cross field kick in their own half, Ponty were penalised for being offside in front of the kicker, allowing St Peters to kick a simple penalty to take a 10 - 5 lead. St Peters then had a front row injury crisis and much of Ponty's forward advantage was nullified when St Peters were forced to request passive scrums and introduce back row players into the front row. St Peters were again able to stretch their lead when Ponty were penalised for handling in the ruck near the half way, and with the wind in their favour, St Peters kicked a great penalty from near half way to take the lead to 13 - 5. Ponty once again reverted to the tight forward game and a series of superb pick and drives saw Ponty drive to near the opposition 22. However the ball was lost in contact, and St Peters launched a long clearance kick to the Ponty 10 metre line where the ball was collected by Billy Waters. Waters set off at blistering pace down the left wing, taking his opposite number on the outside before shrugging off an attempted throat high tackle from the blindside flanker that saw the referee indicate he was playing advantage. Waters though is tough as teak, and he continued his run, handing off the scrum half, before finally rounding the fullback for a spectacular try near the posts, however once again the near gale strength winds, foiled the conversion attempt. St Peters 13 Ponty 10. With the half nearly at an end, Ponty were penalised for a dangerous tackle in their own half, and once again St Peters kicked the penalty to take a 16 - 10 half time lead. The second half saw Ponty introduce Nathaniel Williams and Ross Griffiths to the front row to increase the packs mobility, and James Mountjoy made his seasons debut on the left wing in place of Nathan Evans. Ponty came out in the second half like they meant business, and although they failed to use the wind to it's potential, they dominated territory and possession. Although St Peters defended bravely, it was inevitable that Ponty would get another score and this time it came from fly half Lewis Smith. Centre Lewis Egal had burst through midfield, taking out three defenders, ruck ball was quickly won by the superb back row, before Scrum half Sam Studley broke to the blindside, before offloading to Lewis Smith, who used Dearden and Simms as decoy runners, before bursting through the confused defence for a great try that was converted by Simms. St Peters 16 Pontypridd Youth 17. Ponty were then rocked by a double injury crisis. First Nathaniel Williams dislocated his shoulder, which resulted in prop Dale Pugh having to take the field whilst still suffering from a niggling ankle injury, and then the magnificent Billy Waters was again subjected to a shocking high tackle, that this time even Waters couldn't shrug off and he was forced to leave the field. With only reserve hooker Sam Oliver and scrum half Rhys Ashman (who is only just returning to fitness) left on the bench, Ponty opted to put Oliver on at Hooker, with Griffiths moving to blindside flanker, Alun Thomas moving to fullback, and Simms taking over from Waters on the wing. St Peters sensed the chance to exploit the fact that Ponty now had a flanker at 15 and tried to spread wide every scrap of possession they could gather however tenacious tackling from Mountjoy, Studley, Smith Dearden and Egal stopped attack after attack. Ponty realised they needed another score if they were to make the game safe, and after another series of impressive forward drives, St Peters were penalised for killing the ball at a ruck 10 metres from their line and Simms slotted a simple Penalty. St Peters 16 Pontypridd 20. With the amount of changes and passive scrums, Ponty were now finding it difficult to stick to their gameplan, and were struggling to take the right options, which caused them to miss a couple of good opportunities for a try to make the game safe, but they were rewarded with another long range penalty when St Peters were caught offside in midfield, that Simms converted expertly to take the score to St Peters 16 Pontypridd 23. With the game entering it's last 5 minutes, Ponty launched a towering up and under, that caught the wind making it difficult for the full back to take deep in his own 22. The St Peters 15 took the catch brilliantly, but was immediately tackled by Ponty centre Egal, which the referee harshly judged as high. St Peters tried to run the penalty quickly and caught Ponty napping, however great cover work from Sam Studley saw him halt the attack with a huge cover tackle to turn over posession. Sadly for Ponty the referee felt Studleys tackle was dangerous, and after a lecture to the Ponty side, St Peters opted to kick into the 22 for a line out. Once again Ponty seemed to have stopped the danger when Kingsbury and Rowley managed to stop the driving maul, however the referee felt the Ponty backs had drifted offside so another penalty was awarded. With the referee confirming there were less than 2 minutes left to play, St Peters kicked for the corner and went for a driving 5 metre line out. The Ponty pack brilliantly stopped the maul with Rowley, Jones and Pugh proving themselves real nuisances with their sheer strength, but St Peters were able to recycle and drive for the line again, this time stopped by another huge tackle from Studley. Once again Ponty were penalised this time for offside at the ruck, but with no time left, St Peters tapped the penalty for the last play of the game and went for the line. Lewis Smith and Dan Dearden showed great strength to stop the initial drive, before St Peters rolled the maul to the right. Once again the Ponty pack were more than a match for them and Maisey, Jones and Gristock stopped the maul, only for their blindside flanker to peel away near the corner flag and drive for the line. He was dragged down on the line by a solid double tackle from Ross Griffiths and Sam Oliver who locked themselves around the ball preventing him from grounding, and with the referee perfectly placed the decision was ball held up, and Ponty emerged worthy winners 23 -16. This was a good team effort from Ponty, with all players emerging with credit, even if some of the Ponty decision-making on the day caused them needless problems. However man of the match for Ponty had to be the amazing Billy Waters who showed great pace, power and strength to not only score a fantastic try but also set up Ponty's first score.
 Add as favourites (67) |  Quote this article on your site | Views: 683
Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com
All right reserved |
![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")
