Swansea 24 vs Pontypridd 25

Pontypridd sealed a narrow 25-24 win away to Swansea in an end to end encounter at sunny St Helen’s.

Ponty took an early lead when Jac Davies crossed in the corner. A break from Cally James took the visitors deep into Swansea’s 22 and some good work from the backs saw Davies cross. Stuckey’s conversion drifted wide.

Swansea thought they’d scored their first try of the afternoon when Liam Popham crossed but referee Elfyn Morris-Roberts adjudged the ball to have gone forward.

However, Swansea were on the board soon after when James Davies kicked a penalty from in front of the posts.

Ponty were inches away from their second try of the afternoon when Dale Stuckey kicked ahead to Dafydd Buckland but the scrum half couldn’t quite ground the ball.

From the resulting scrum Ponty’s dominance up front told and Joe Miles crossed for Ponty’s second. Stuckey’s touchline conversion was good and Ponty led by two scores.

Swansea cut the gap to six points when fly half Davies kicked a penalty from his own half.

The Whites cut the gap again soon after when Davies slotted a penalty from 40 meters out and it was a three point game.

That saw the end of the scoring for the first half with Ponty holding a slender lead.

HALF TIME – Swansea 9-12 Pontypridd

Swansea levelled the scores just after half time when Ponty were penalised for holding on and Davies made no mistake with his penalty attempt from right in front of the posts.

The second half was proving to be a scrappy encounter and Swansea missed the chance to take the lead for the first time when fly half Davies’ kick drifted wide.

Ponty’s first real foray into Swansea’s half in the second half came when Daf Buckland picked up a lose ball at the base of Swansea’s scrum and took Ponty into Swansea’s 22.

From there Ponty were awarded a penalty which was kicked to the corner and the resulting driving maul saw Ben Stephens crash over to put Ponty back in front. Stuckey’s conversion was good and Ponty led by seven.

Swansea came close to levelling the scores but some good Ponty defence prevented Owen Thomas from scoring.

However, minutes later the Whites did cross through Owen Thomas for their first try of the game and Davies’ conversion meant the scores were tied at 19-19.

Swansea were soon reduced to fourteen men when prop Tom Northey was shown a yellow card for persistent scrum offences.

Ponty immediately capitalised and took the lead through a Jake Lloyd penalty from just inside of his own half.

It was soon a six point buffer for Ponty when Lloyd slotted another penalty attempt.

Swansea hit back with another try and it was hooker Owen Thomas with his second of the game. However, Davies’ conversion went wide and Ponty still led by one point.

There was time for Ponty to kick off but after it bounced out of play referee Morris-Roberts set the sides up on half way for a scrum. However, before the scrum took place the referee called full time and Ponty took the four points back to Sardis Road.

FULL TIME – Swansea 24-25 Pontypridd

Match report – Adam Cleary

Pontypridd:

15. Morgan Richards. 14. Jac Davies. 13. Bradley Roderick. 12. Garyn Payne. 11. Dale Stuckey. 10. Ceri Morris (Jake Lloyd). 9. Dafydd Buckland (Dai Jones)

1. Ben Stephens (Tom Devine). 2. Rob Jones (Ieuan Morris). 3. Tom Harper (Morgan Bosanko). 4. Kristian Parker ©. 5. Chris Dicomidis (James Little). 6. Cally James (Cai James). 7. Sion Parry. 8. Joe Miles

Subs: 16. Ieuan Morris. 17. Tom Devine. 18. Morgan Bosanko. 19. James Little. 20. Cai James. 21. Dai Jones. 22. Jake Lloyd. 23. Sam Hayman

Tries: Jac Davies, Joe Miles, Ieuan Morris

Conversions: Stuckey x 2

Penalties: Jake Lloyd x 2

Swansea:

15. Liam Popham. 14. Josh Carrington. 13. Gareth Rees. 12. Kieran Charles. 11. Harvey James. 10. James Davies. 9. Connor Tantum

1. Tom Northey. 2. Garan Williams. 3. Jordan Pritchard. 4. Matt Dodd ©. 5. Jay Williams. 6. Billy Moxey. 7. Callum Bowden. 8. Ben Williams

Subs 16. Owen Thomas. 17. Cam Jones. 18. Alun Dew. 19. Liam Edwards. 20. Charlie Davies. 21. Leon Mcnally. 22. Chris Morgans. 23. Curtis Davies

Tries: Owen Thomas x 2

Conversion: James Davies

Penalties: James Davies x 4

Referee: Elfyn Morris-Roberts

Assistant referees: 1 – Andrew Moule, 2 – Chris Oliver

WRU Man of the Match: Sion Parry