Pontypridd Youth (1) 47 – 0 Chepstow Borderers

TRY Scorers: Dean Masey, Nathanial Williams, Ross Griffiths, Rhys Lloyd, Rhys Simms and Alun Thomas (2). Rhys Simms kicked 6 Conversions.

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Ponty 1 travelled to Dragons division 2 side Chepstow, looking to build on their promising wins over Morriston and Penallta. Ponty were again without Captain and Flyhalf Lewis Smith, vice Captain and Scrum half Sam Studley. props Sullivan and Brown, lock Christian Hitt, wings, Parker, Williams, Hughes and Evans and flanker Dafydd Gristock.

Also unavailable for Ponty were flanker Mike Davies (suspended) and Scrum half/wing Billy Waters. As a result Ponty travelled to Chepstow with no recognised wings so Hooker Sam Oliver and Lock Owain Kingsbury volunteered to play wing to allow the game to go ahead. Without Studley and Waters, 3rd choice scrum half Rhys Ashman made his first start of the season, with Rhys Simms moving into the no 10 spot and Lewis Egal making his seasons debut at full back after a serious broken leg.

Chepstow had a giant pack and an eye catching inside centre, with some big lads in the back line so it looked like it would be a close tussle. Flanker Alun Thomas took over the Captaincy for Ponty in the absence of Smith and Studley. Ponty started like a sprinter and within two minutes from kick off, No8 Dean Maisey scored the opening try.

After great approach work from centres Dan Dearden and Rhys Lloyd, Lloyd cleverly chipped the rush defence and outstanding no 8 Maisey was on hand to snaffle the kick ahead from Lloyd and power over from 20 metres out. The try was converted by Simms to take the score to Chepstow 0 - Ponty Youth 7.

More misery was to follow for Chepstow and when they conceded a line out on their 22m, a set line out move involving Hooker Ross Griffiths and Dean Maisey, saw flanker Alun Thomas burst through the line out unopposed and race to the try line, before drawing the full back and giving a perfect pass to the supporting Ross Griffiths, who crossed wide out for his debut try for Ponty, and then run the ball under the posts to give Simms a simple conversion. Chepstow 0 Ponty 14.

Chepstow seemed unable to settle and their lack of composure saw them fall further behind, when a simple pass from their scrum half at a ruck close to their try line was dropped over the line, Ponty lock Nathanial Williams was first to react, falling on the ball for the simplest try he will ever score, again converted by Simms Chepstow 0 Ponty 21.

With Ponty now clearly dominant, they started to move the ball wide, and with full back Egal joining the line at every opportunity, it wasn't long before the backs got a well deserved try. Simms made the initial break, feeding Dearden who popped a short ball to Egal who ran from deep. Egal burst through the cover and fed centre Rhys Lloyd who showed amazing pace to sprint in from 40 metres using wing Sam Oliver as a decoy to dummy his way past the final defender. As with Griffiths this was Lloyds debut try for the club and was a fantastic demonstration of skill and pace. Simms struck the post with the conversion to take the scores to Chepstow 0 Ponty 26.

The final play of the first half saw another excellent break from Dearden and Simms from deep in their own half, the referee then penalised Chepstow for deliberately killing the ball on the half way line. After the sorry experience of the Llantrisant match, captain Alun Thomas checked if the referee would allow Ponty to play the line out if they opted to kick for the corner, and when the referee replied no, Simms opted to have a long range kick at goal from the half way line, which narrowly failed after again striking the upright.

Half Time Chepstow 0 Pontypridd Senior Youth 26

The second half saw Chepstow step up a gear and for the first 10 minutes they put Ponty under immense pressure using their big pack and no 12 to drive deep into the Ponty defence. However a combination of wrong options close to the Ponty try line and great defence from the whole Ponty squad, saw Ponty safely through every Chepstow attack.

With Ponty's lead they now decided to make some changes. Lock Nathanial Williams was brought off to rest his injured shoulder, with Owain Kingsbury leaving the wing to revert to his usual position of lock. Rhys Lloyd moved from centre to wing and Lewis Egal reverted to his usual outside centre berth. Alun Thomas then switched from flanker to full back which he had played so successfully against Penallta.

Ross Williams switched to no 6 and Cai Daniel replaced Griffiths at hooker. It didn't take long for Thomas to make his mark at Fullback, and when he collected a poor clearance kick on his own 10 metre line, he set off on a brilliant individual run, where he dummied and side stepped through three or four defenders before crossing on the right for an outstanding solo effort, again converted by Simms  to take the score to Chepstow 0 Ponty 33.

Next it was Simms turn to join the try scorers. From a scrum in a central position mid way in the Chepstow half, Simms took a beautiful pass from scrum half Ashman before using pace and power to burst through a poor challenge from his opposite number and inside centre, and then used sheer pace to round the full back for a try under the posts that he converted easily. Chepstow 0 Ponty 40.

Chepstow were now tiring badly and as the game entered the last 5 minutes, they valiantly tried to get a consolation try. In fairness to the Ponty players they defended superbly and despite their 40 point lead, were determined not to concede a a score. When a huge tackle in midfield from Ponty centre Dearden, saw Chepstow turn over possession, it was quickly won on the ground by impressive Ponty openside Ryan Owen, who popped the ball to the supporting Maisey.

Maisey burst through a couple of tackles and sprinted to over the Chepstow 10m. As Maisey was tackled he initially looked to pass to the unmarked Oliver wide on the right, but instead chose to pop a short pass to replacement full back Thomas who had come from nowhere on a fantastic angle. This completely wrong footed the desperate cover defence of Chepstow, and to add insult to injury Thomas again threw an outrageous dummy and side step to cut inside the Chepstow full back and cross for his well deserved second try. Simms was again on target with the conversion Chepstow 0 Ponty 47.

The final play of the game was one of the finest plays of the day and deserved a score. A great tackle from Owen again saw Chepstow spill possession 10m from the Ponty try line. Maisey was quick to react and launched a superb counter attack breaking through the first tackle, before feeding Ashman. Using great speed of hand, the Ponty backs then moved the ball quickly through Simms, Dearden and Egal before finding Rhys Lloyd who again broke through the tackle of his opposite number and raced deep into the Chepstow half.

As play entered the Chepstow 22 a try seemed certain as Lloyd had Dearden and Kingsbury in support wide on the left, and Maisey, Thomas and Oliver to his right and only the full back to beat. Lloyd drew the full back expertly before throwing the ball left, only for the referee to frustratingly call play back as he felt the pass had gone forward.

Final Score Chepstow 0 Pontypridd Senior Youth 47

Once again several players threw their hat in the ring for the man of the match honours. Openside Ryan Owen had a tremendous game and was a real nuisance in defence, Dean Maisey once again proved he is back to his best with a well deserved try and exemplary support play, Ross Griffiths had a debut try at hooker and his fellow props Jones and Pugh showed fantastic skills in the loose for big men.

In the backs Rhys Ashman had his best ever game at Scrum half, taking his opportunity for a rare start well. Rhys Lloyd caught the eye in the three quarters with some fantastic runs and impressive pace, and earning himself a well deserved try. Simms had an impressive all round game and despite being in the unfamiliar fly half spot, chipped in with a try and 6 conversions from 7 on the day.

However Man of the Match had to go to Alun "Beefy" Thomas who was outstanding both at Flanker and Full back, scoring a well deserved brace of tries, and having helped set up a third for Griffiths. He captained the side intelligently and on the day produced an impressive Captains knock.

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