DISTRICT YOUTH CUP

Pontypridd Youth (1) 35 – 3 Pontypridd Youth (2)

The first round of this years District cup threw up the unlikeliest of draws, pitting the Pontypridd Youth senior team against their younger counterparts who are built around last season’s very successful under 16’s.

The game was played in excellent conditions at Sardis and as expected from a clash involving some of the brightest young talent in the Ponty area, the first fifteen minutes was a full-blooded affair with the defences of both sides dominating.

As expected, the Senior Ponty Youth side, recently promoted to the Welsh youth National leagues had the better of the early exchanges, but excellent defence from Welsh international Garrick Legge, Aaron Atkins and Dean Gunter, limited Ponty seniors to one penalty score, expertly converted by full back Rhys Simms for an early lead. As the first half progressed, the superior power of the senior team gradually started to take effect and with the younger sides scrum in trouble.

Youth (2) scrum-half Lee Kelleher, despite his best efforts was having a torrid time at the back of the scrum, having to try to launch his back line, under ever increasing pressure from his opposite number Sam Studley. It was from a retreating scrum that Kelleher was robbed of possession by Studley as he tried to pick up as the scrum began to it wheel. Studley quickly moved the ball left to open-side Dafydd Gristock who raced deep into the opposition half before slipping the ball to Ponty (1) captain Lewis Smith to cross for the opening try that went unconverted.

This score seemed to settle the older team and they were quick to return to the attack with a series of attacks to put the younger team under immense pressure. However to their credit, the brave defence of the Youth (2) team prevented the senior side from scoring on a number of occasions. As the first half was drawing to a close, Youth (1) were starting to control most aspects of the game, with Youth (2) team forced to live off scraps of untidy possession as their line out and scrum creaked against the more experienced pack.

When Youth (2) did move possession wide they struggled to cope with the Senior teams blitz defence. A spilled ball in midfield by the younger team presented the senior back-row of Gristock, Maissey and Thomas, the opportunity to quickly move the ball to their midfield. The excellent Smith, put in a perfect pass to unleash outstanding centre Dan Dearden, who powered through his opposite number and raced forty metres to score Youth (1)’s second try that again went unconverted.

With virtually the last move of the half, the Seniors were denied what should have been a further seven points, when  outstanding line-out work from hooker Mike Davies and jumper Dean Maissey, unleashed blindside flanker Alun Thomas on a training ground move that saw him cross untouched for what seemed a fantastic try, only for the referee to deny the score as he wasn't happy with the initial throw. Half time score: Youth (1) 13 – 0 Youth (2).

The second half began with a ferocious assault by the younger youth team , who had responded well to their half time team talk from the coaches. They put the senior team under a lot of pressure and with the exciting running of their young left wing, with Gunter, Atkins and Legge to the fore they drove play deep into the opposition half. Frustratingly the ball was spilled and Youth (1) were able to clear the danger.

The Senior team introduced some fresh legs with lock Christian Hitt replacing the excellent Owain Kingsbury and Geraint Rowley, son of Ponty legend Mark Rowley, making his debut in place of the outstanding Nathaniel Williams who unfortunately left the field with a reoccurrence of a shoulder problem. Giant lock Hitt was quick to make his mark and won clean line out ball off the top fifteen metres from the Youth (2) try line and scrum-half Studley was on hand to power down the blindside for another unconverted try to take the senior youth lead to 18-0.

This was a serious blow to the younger side as it took them three scores behind and they also lost a prop to a serious leg injury, forcing their already tired scrum into a reshuffle. Youth (1) were now determined to put the result beyond doubt and when Hitt expertly collected the restart, the Ponty seniors set up a driving maul, taking the play a full fifteen metres up-field, before giant lock Rowley burst away from the maul and powered through a number of tired tacklers before being held up inside the opposition twenty-two.

With the move seemingly stopped, impressive senior blindside Alun Thomas peeled away from the maul before throwing an outrageous dummy and crossing under the posts for a fantastic score that was converted by full back Rhys Simms. Then came a number of changes being made to both teams, with the powerful Garrick Legge leaving the field for Youth (2) with damaged ribs, whilst Youth (1) brought on prop Dean Brown, hooker Sam Oliver, blindside Ross Griffiths and wing Nathan Evans replacing Pugh, Davies, Thomas and Williams.

With fresh legs on, the Senior squad were able to continue to dominate the game and after great line out work, Studley, Smith and Dearden were able to slice open a tired defensive line to take play to within metres of the youngsters try line. A brave tackle from the Youth (2) fullback eventually stopped the attack. However with the Senior back row, taking advantage of the loss of Legge, the ball was quickly recycled with Ross Griffiths bursting away before feeding outstanding no8 Dean Maissey, who was driven over by the rest of the pack for another unconverted try.

But the Youth (2) side are made of strong stuff and refused to lie down. After excellent approach work from their eye-catching left wing, Youth (2) forced their senior counterparts to give away a penalty for killing the ball at a ruck. The Youth (2) fly half Gunter placed an inch perfect kick into the corner to set up a five-metre line out, giving Youth (2) the best opportunity of the game to open their scoring.

Sadly for the junior team, a lack of composure after winning the line out saw them lose possession, and quick reactions from impressive senior scrum half Sam Studley saw him clear his try line with a massive clearance kick taking play to the oppositions ten-metre line. From the resulting line out, Maissey won quality "off the top" ball, allowing magical flyhalf Smith to unlock the Youth (2) defence with a set move using powerful centre Dearden as a decoy runner. The move worked perfectly allowing speedy centre Ryan Hughes (who was playing through the pain barrier after picking up a serious hand injury) to race in from thirty metres for a well-deserved debut try that went unconverted to take the score to 35-0.

With the game going into injury time, the never say die attitude of the Youth (2) team was a real credit and they launched attack after attack in an attempt to open their older counterparts and to their credit they forced the senior team to concede a number of penalties that earned Youth (1) a serious lecture from the referee and a well deserved three points for the Youth (2) squad from the boot of young fly half Dean Gunter. Final score Pontypridd Youth (1) 35 Pontypridd Youth (2) 3.

Although there were a number of impressive performances on both sides, the man of the match award was shared between Senior Scrum half Sam Studley and Senior No8 Dean Maissey. This was a fantastic advert for Pontypridd Youth Rugby, with both sides a credit to their coaches and the club. With players of this level of talent coming through the ranks, the real winner of this titanic battle was Pontypridd RFC, though it would have been nice to have both teams go through to the next round?.

The Senior Youth Team will now meet Llantrisant at Sardis in the next round of the cup and they would like to thank Call A Cab for their kind sponsorship of the Youth for today’s game. 

Try Scorers: Lewis Smith, Dan Deardon, Sam Studley, Alun Thomas, Dean Maissey and Ryan Hughes. Rhys Simms kicked a penalty and one conversion.

Dean Gunter kicked a penalty for Youth (2).

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