Cardiff Met v Pontypridd – Matchday Preview

Next up for Pontypridd RFC is the relatively short journey south into the capital to play Cardiff Met RFC. The Admiral Premiership match on Saturday 19th October at Cyncoed Campus kicks off at 2:30pm.

Ponty and The Archers last match also took place at Cyncoed back on Saturday 28th January 2017 in the Welsh Cup, the Valley Commandos triumphed 43-12 that particular afternoon with Dale Stuckey and current Head Coach Chris Dicomidis amongst the team’s seven try scorers.

Cardiff Met won promotion into this season’s Admiral Premiership by finishing in second place behind Bargoed in last season’s Championship East table. Even in these early stages of the 2024/25 Premiership, Cyncoed is already proving to be a bit of a fortress with Cardiff Met having enjoyed a big win at home against Ystrad Rhondda and a draw against Bargoed so far. However, they’ve lost both games on the road away at Newcastle Emlyn and Llangennech.

Last Saturday Pontypridd continued their perfect start to the season with a bonus-point win against Narberth, and in doing so closed the gap to Merthyr at the top of the standings – Ponty and Merthyr remain the only two clubs in the division that have won all of their matches to date.

THE JOHN PUGH MEMORIAL SHIELD –

On Saturday the two sides will be competing for the John Pugh Memorial Shield. John was a former Pro-Vice Chancellor and Chairman of Cardiff Met RFC for over 30 years, before his sad passing in October 2023. Cardiff Met and Pontypridd have had many players represent both clubs over the years – Geraint Lewis, Neil Hennessy, Gareth Baber and Simon Humberstone, to name a few in more recent times. It is due to these links that Cardiff Met have chosen Pontypridd as the club that they would like to compete against for the John Pugh Memorial Shield – a gesture that we at Pontypridd RFC are honoured by.

GROUND AND TICKET INFORMATION –

The address for Cardiff Met’s ground (pictured above) is Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cyncoed Campus, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff, CF23 6XD. There will be refreshments available for supporters in the nearby students’ union bar.

Supporters are able to purchase their E-ticket’s prior to this Saturday’s match via the following link – Fanbase | Dashboard (fanbaseclub.com)

We will also have further ground information regarding parking, gate entry plus some other bits and these will be published in our Match Preview later in the week.

SUPPORTERS TRAVEL –

The Pontypridd Supporters Club are organising travel for fans to the match on Saturday. The bus will leave Sardis Road at 1:00pm ahead of the 2:30pm kick-off and the bus will depart the university at 5:30pm. To book a seat on the bus to Cardif Met please call Phil Lycett on 01443 662561. Here’s our very recently published, separate article which has all the finer details regarding the supporters bus for Saturday – PRFC Supporters Coach to Cardiff Met

So there you have it #PontyFans, make sure you’re in the capital this Saturday trying to roar the lads on to their fifth league win of the season.