Pontypridd 12 vs Llandovery 23

Two tries in as many minutes for Llandovery ensured a victory at Sardis Road, with replacements Callum Dodd and Berian Watkins scoring vital tries.

The opening score went the way of the visitors after a break from centre Adam Warren who gave the try scoring pass to scrumhalf Dafydd Land who scored under the posts.

Fullback Jack Maynard added a simple conversion to give Llandovery a 7-0 lead.

Drovers winger Kian Abraham made a break from the restart as the hosts struggled to grasp any control in the first few minutes.

Ponty responded with their first points of the afternoon with a penalty from fly-half Ben Burnell.

Burnell added his second penalty of the afternoon as the hosts closed the gap to one point.

Maynard slotted a penalty of his own to extend the visitors lead, fly-half Burnell did have the opportunity to close the gap back to one point, although his penalty effort went wide.

Conditions weren’t helping either side as both sides struggled to maintain possession with handling becoming a factor.

The final act of the half came with Ponty winning a scrum penalty after showing some dominance in the set piece, Burnell took the quick tap and booted the ball out for halftime with the visitors leading 10-6.

HALF TIME – Pontypridd 6-10 Llandovery

An error from Ponty fullback Alex Lloyd wasn’t the start of the second half that the home fans wanted as a simple drop of the ball gave Llandovery an attacking platform inside the hosts 22 but failed to capitalize.

Burnell kicked his third penalty of the afternoon for the first points of the half before the hosts took the lead with a fourth penalty from the fly-half.

After missing a long-range attempt, Drovers fullback Maynard slotted his second penalty of the afternoon to re-take the lead.

Ponty’s Burnell saw his long-range effort drift wide as the game headed into the final quarter.

However, it was the visitors who got the vital score with a second try through the rolling maul with replacement tighthead Berian Watkins dotting down.

It went from bad to worse for the hosts as the Drovers scored a third try with forwards and backs combining with replacement Callum Dodd scoring to seal the game.

The visitors were chasing a bonus point but couldn’t get over the line as they picked up a 23-12 win.

FULL TIME – Pontypridd 12-23 Llandovery (7/1/2023)

Match report – Iestyn Thomas

PONTYPRIDD –

15. Alex Lloyd. 14. Ewan Skuse. 13. Tommy Morgan (Matthew Lewis). 12. Jordan Howells (Ceri Morris). 11. Sam Hayman. 10. Ben Burnell. 9. Joel Raikes (Rory Harries).

1. Tom Devine (Ben Stephens). 2. Rob Jones (Morgan Bosanko). 3. Tom Harper (Garyn Daniel). 4. Kristian Parker (c). 5. Chris Dicomidis (Mitch Barnard). 6. Cai James. 7. Sion Parry. 8. Joe Miles (Aled Ward).

Subs: 16. Morgan Bosanko. 17. Morgan Bosanko. 18. Garyn Daniel. 19. Mitch Barnard. 20. Aled Ward. 21. Rory Harries. 22. Ceri Morris. 23. Matthew Lewis

Penalties: Burnell x 4

LLANDOVERY –

15. Jack Maynard. 14. Rhodri Wall. 13. Adam Warren. 12. Rhodri Jones. 11. Kian Abraham. 10. Ioan Hughes. 9. Dafydd Land

1. Jamie Hughes. 2. Craig Thomas. 3. Llyr Green. 4. Jack Jones (c). 5. Joe Powell. 6. Griff Evans. 7. Stuart Worrall. 8. Osian Davies

Subs: 16. Ricky Guest. 17. Dino Dallavalle. 18. Berian Watkins. 19. Lloyd Pike. 20. Jordan Evans. 21. Kristian Jones. 22. Callum Dodd. 23. Lee Rees

Tries: Land, Watkins, Dodd

Conversions: Maynard

Penalties: Maynard x 2

Referee: Craig Evans

Assistant referees: 1 – Elliot Mayor, 2 – Richard Brace

Golden Bob Man of the Match: Ben Burnell

WRU Man of the Match: Ben Burnell