Blues BB League: Pontypridd Youth (1) 22 - 3 Llantwit Major
Ponty welcomed Llantwit Major to Pontyclun for a division 2 League match after Sardis road had been deemed unplayable due to surface water. Ponty Youth were virtually at full strength for the first time this season, with only Props James Sullivan and Dean Brown, Centre Rhys Lloyd, Flanker Ryan Owen and wings Aaron Steverson and Lewis Williams unavailable. This was only the third league game of the Season for youth 1 with their other 5 scheduled league games being cancelled due to the weather, so Ponty were keen to start clawing back some points on the teams above them.
Ponty started very brightly, and thought they had opened the scoring when a flowing back move saw wing Billy Waters round his opposite number to cross wifde on the left. Sadly for Ponty although the referee was happy, the Llantwit linesman had ruled Waters boot had touched the whitewash and the score was overruled. From the Llantwit line out, Ponty No8 Dean Maisey leapt magnificently to steal the throw and Ponty resumed on the attack. When the ball was spilled Llantwit cleared to touch just outside their 22m. At the line out Ponty used a set move superbly bringing blindside flanker Alun Thomas on to a perfect tap down from Maisey, Thomas broke through two tackles before cleverly offloading to Ponty prop Marc Jones, who showed fantastic skill to power through a number of tackles and drive over the try line. Llantwit Major looked like they had held Jones up in goal but with fantastic strength, he ripped the ball away from the melee of defenders and touched down for an unconverted try. Llantwit came right back at Ponty and for the next 10 minutes Ponty were forced to defend deep in their half, where poor discipline and wrong options were causing them needless pressure. The Ponty defence however was heroic, and outstanding defence at the ruck area from Marc Jones, Dean Maisey, Nathaniel Williams, Dale Pugh and Alun Thomas kept hitting the big Llantwit forwards backwards. When Llantwit tried to move the ball, fantastic tackling from all 15 players kept their try line secure and Llantwit just couldn't create a score. Ponty captain and flyhalf Lewis Smith was having one of his best ever games in a Ponty shirt and was varying play superbly, sometimes kicking deep, sometimes playing deft little chips for his centres to run on to, and at other times unleashing the powerful centre combination of Dearden and Egal. He was aided in this by the eye catching Studley who helped clean up poor ball time after time and cleverly took responsibility to take pressure off Smith at key moments. Once Ponty withstood the Llantwit pressure they were able to force Llantwit to rush a clearance kick, resulting in a line out to Ponty near the 22m line. At the Line out Christian Hitt won quality off the top ball, scrum half Studley fed Smith who put a perfect grubber behind the Llantwit rush defence. The ball was collected by Ponty centre Lewis Egal who fed full back Simms who tore through the Llantwit defence, drawing the full back before offloading to centre Dan Dearden who crossed for Ponty's second try, again unconverted. Half Time score Ponty Youth 10 Llantwit Major 0 Half time saw Owain Kingsbury and Geraint Rowley replacing lock pairing of Christian Hitt and Nathanial Williams who both were struggling with shoulder problems. Llantwit started strongly in the second half and the first 15 minutes was all Llantwit were they drove aggressively through their pack, but despite Ponty conceding a number of penalties at the maul and ruck area, all Llantwit got to show for their efforts was a solitary penalty goal. Ponty were in determined mood and could sense a good scalp to maintain their 5 match winning run, and they were quick to hit back. A great clearance kick from Lewis Smith saw Ponty Wing Nathan Evans speed up the pitch and put in an impressive tackle on his opposite number, when the ball broke loose, scrum half Sam Studley quickly pounced on the ball and drove aggressively towards the try line. Studley was well tackled but set the ball up perfectly, the move was carried on by prop Dale Pugh and then replacement lock Owain Kingsbury who drove to the try line before dummying a pass to supporting wing Billy Waters, and instead popping a pass to his giant lock partner Geraint Rowley who is unstoppable from that distance and crashed over for another well worked try. Again the conversion was missed taking the score to Pontypridd 15 Llantwit Major 3. Ponty were now dominant and with Cai Daniel replacing hooker Ross Griffiths, were attacking from all areas of the field. Some brilliant interplay between Studley Smith Dearden and Egal created a number of opportunities and it was only desperate defence from Llantwit prevented further scores. The Ponty back row of Maisey, Gristock and Thomas were at the heart of all the action and were foraging superbly and causing real problems for the Llantwit attack, turning over ball after ball. From another line out, Ponty again used a set move and once again Alun "beefy" Thomas was able to make significant inroads into the Llantwit defence, before a difficult pass was knocked on just inside the Llantwit 10m line. With the referee awarding the scrum to Llantwit he announced this would be the last play of the game. Llantwit opted to run the ball in a last attempt to score a try, bringing their dangerous full back into the line, only for him to be hit with a bone jarring tackle from Ponty centre Dan Dearden. With the ball lost in the tackle, Deardens centre partner Lewis Egal showed great skill in difficult conditions to pick up the loose ball at full speed and race away for a try under the posts converted by Rhys Simms to take the final score to Pontypridd Senior Youth 22 Llantwit Major 3. This was a magnificent performance from all the squad and it was great for the players to show that with 4 games in hand, they can still be a major force in this League. Sam Studley and Smith were impressive at half back, wing Nathan Evans had his best ever game in a Ponty shirt, centre Lewis Egal is showing real signs he is back to his best after his serious injury and all eleven forwards used were awesome today. But the Man of the Match award this week is shared by No8 Dean Maisey who was like a "lion" in the pack and centre Dan Dearden whose defended like a rock and was devastating in attack.
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