Pontypridd 43 vs Cardiff 28

Pontypridd made it four wins from four in pre-season with a seven try win over Cardiff at Sardis Road.

A brace for flanker Cai James was accompanied by tries from Rob Jones, Cally James, Mitch Barnard, Brandon Huntley and Dylan John as Ponty fought back from a 28-17 deficit.

Cardiff picked up early possession following a 50:22 by fly-half Osian Darwin-Lewis which gave the visitors an early chance, but a knock on after a few phases ended the attack.

Another opportunity inside the Ponty 22 came through the rolling maul before Cardiff were denied by some solid Ponty maul defence. However, the Blue & Blacks eventually crossed for their first try of the afternoon after 24 minutes when second row Ethan Phillips scored after a neat offload from captain Jason Harries.

Ponty’s first opportunity came in the 30^th minute after a box-kick from scrum-half Lucus Welch was knocked on by fullback Joe Goodchild. Welch put in a second box-kick a moment later which bounced kindly for fullback Dale Stuckey and blindside flanker Cai James powered through from short range for the hosts opening try. Ponty flyhalf Jacob Symes kicked the conversion to level the scores.

In the final play before halftime, Ponty took the lead after a strong rolling maul which saw hooker Rob Jones grounding the ball over the line, fly-half Jacob Symes’ conversion drifted wide but Ponty led 12-7 at the interval.

HALF TIME – Pontypridd 12-7 Cardiff

Cardiff opened the scoring in the second half with a well-crafted try from first phase when outside centre Luke Pollock broke through the Ponty defence, offloaded to scrum half Sion Davies who passed to his outside half partner Darwin-Lewis who scored under the crossbar.

The visitors ran in for a third try through winger Dewi Cross to extend their lead to 21-12 after 47 minutes, before the Valley Commandos responded with captain Cally James dotting down for the hosts’ third try – Jacob Symes missed the conversion but Ponty were right back in the contest albeit four points behind 21-17.

Cardiff outside centre Pollock had proved to be a handful for Ponty and he crossed for his side’s fourth try after breaking through a couple of tackles to score, Darwin-Lewis’ conversion made it 28-17 to Cardiff after 52 minutes.

The hosts marked a chaotic opening 15 minutes of the second half with a fifth try when second row Mitch Barnard scored off the back of a rolling maul. Jacob Symes’ superb conversion reduced the deficit to 24-28 with twenty five minutes left to play.

With the clock ticking over the hour mark, Ponty took the lead through replacement back Brandon Huntley who found himself amongst the forwards and managed to score from the back of a rolling maul.

Ponty picked up their sixth try of the afternoon through flanker Cai James who’s try from close range bagged him a brace. Replacement flanker Dylan John added a final score in the dying seconds to ensure victory for the hosts in a high scoring encounter.

Pontypridd return to Sardis Road next weekend in their final pre-season game against St. Albans on Saturday August 31^st.

FULL TIME – Pontypridd 43-28 Cardiff (24/8/2024)

Match report – Iestyn Thomas

PONTYPRIDD –

15. Dale Stuckey. 14. Will Huggins. 13. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 12. Garyn Smith. 11. George Thorrington. 10. Jacob Symes. 9. Lucus Welch.

1. Ben Drew. 2. Rob Jones. 3. Morgan Bosanko. 4. Mitch Barnard 5. Kristian Parker. 6. Cai James. 7. Cally James (c). 8. Joe Miles.

Subs: 16. Dan Cotterell. 17. Dylan Kelly. 18. Kian Mattravers. 19. Cole Parry. 20. Lloyd Riley. 21. Dylan John. 22. Joel Raikes. 23. Jaydan Pugh. 24. Ty Lewis. 25. Brandon Huntley.

Tries: Cai James x 2, Rob Jones, Cally James, Mitch Barnard, Brandon Huntley, Dylan John

Conversions: Jacob Symes x 3, Jaydan Pugh

CARDIFF –

15. Joe Goodchild. 14. Joseff Jones. 13. Luke Pollock. 12. Jason Harries (c). 11. Dewi Cross. 10. Osian Darwin-Lewis. 9. Sion Davies.

1. Marc Thomas. 2. Charlie Manship. 3. Tom Harper. 4. Ethan Phillips. 5. Johan Hoogendoorn. 6. Aled Ward. 7. Will Jamieson. 8. Benji Williams.

Subs: 16. Gavin Parry. 17. Sam Turner. 18. Jarred Williams. 19. Harrison Rock. 20. Evan Rees. 21. Spencer Robinson. 22. Lloyd Lucas. 23. Conor Murphy. 24. Christian Brooke.

Tries: Ethan Phillips, Osian Darwin-Lewis, Dewi Cross, Luke Pollock

Conversions: Osian Darwin-Lewis x 4

Referee: Adam Jones

Assistant referees: 1 – Elliot Mayor, 2 – Karim Cosslett