Ponty suffer narrow defeat at Carmarthen

Ponty were well on top during the opening exchanges, strong in the set piece and aggressive in the tackle, their dominance turned into points following an opportunist kick and chase foray from which scrum half Joel Raikes darted over, his try converted by Ben Jones. Jones added a penalty, which was cancelled out by his opposite number Steff Marshall, before hoisting a well judged cross kick which winger Dale Stuckey fielded to run in from near the halfway, Jones again adding the extras.

The Quins as yet had barely set sight on the visitors’ twenty-two but forged their way back into contention, up against a stubborn Ponty defence who battled for turnovers near their own line. Home pressure eventually brought a points return following a snap offensive down the flank with full back Curtis Ford going over for a try which Marshall converted, trimming his side’s interval deficit to 13pts to 17.
A Ben Jones penalty soon after the break extended Ponty’s lead, but that was to be their final contribution to the scoring. The Quins set up a series of line-out drives, with scrum half Gareth Rees burrowing over from close range, his try converted by Marshall. The contest was close fought, if scrappy, with unforced errors and off-straight line-out throws stemming the flow of play.
Ponty attempted to provide a spark to set the afternoon alight, but the home pack becoming more dominant and following a tap penalty and a number of ensuing shunts, seeing flanker Ed Siggery barging over for a crucial try with Marshall again converting. Into the final ten minutes all of Ponty’s efforts were in vain with the Quins holding out in defence, sometimes threatening on the counter, and protecting a 27pts to 20 winning margin.
Carmarthen Quins:
15.Curtis Ford. 14.Jake Newman. 13.Nick Reynolds. 12.Scott Lloyd (Josh Batcup). 11.Morgan Griffiths. 10.Steff Marshall. 9.Gareth Rees (Dec Smith).
1.Kemsley Mathias (Ollie Evans). 2.Tom Ball. 3.Connor Allen (Ben Leung). 4.Josh Helps. 5.Haydn Pugh – cpt. 6.Ed Siggery. 7.Lewys Millin. 8.Lawrence Reynolds (Shaun Jones).
Tries: Ford (36); Rees (48); Siggery (63)
Cons: Marshall (37,49, 64)
Pens: Marshall (21, 34)
Pontypridd:
15.Lloyd Rowlands (Morgan Richards). 14.Alex Webber. 13.Mason Grady. 12.Corey Sheppard (Dafydd Lockyer). 11.Dale Stuckey. 10.Ben Jones. 9.Joel Raikes.
1.Huw Owen (Curtis Reynolds/Morgan Bosanko). 2.Nathan Huish (Rhydian Jenkins). 3.Morgan Bosanko (Ben Warren). 4.Lloyd Evans (Cally James). 5.James Murphy (Chris Dicomidis). 6.Morgan Sieniawski – cpt. 7.Sion Parry. 8.Kristian Parker.
Tries: Raikes (8); Stuckey (26)
Cons: Jones (9, 27)
Pens: Jones (17, 48)
WRU Man of the Match: Joel Raikes
Referee: Ian Davies