Ponty celebrate first win over RGC

Pontypridd made their own little bit of history on Saturday 7th April 2018 by recording a first ever victory over visitors Rygbi Gogledd Cymru.

Three defeats in the league and cup the previous season was Ponty’s record against the North Walians, but the here and now at the House of Pain was all about a hard fought 25pts to 20 Premiership win.

The two teams were level three apiece on try count, but the kicking of outside half Diggy Bird, with an additional conversion and penalty proving decisive.

Ponty’s victory was built on a solid foundation set by the forwards, with loose-head prop Ian George, who was awarded the WRU man of the match accolade, playing a crucial role.

Giving his post-match reaction, George was happy with his own and the team’s performance.

“We were all hurting after the Llandovery defeat two weeks ago” said George, “knowing that we didn’t perform to the required standards and that we weren’t physical enough.

“We worked hard in training since then and showed an improvement down at Swansea, but we had targeted this game against RGC to prove our point against one of the top sides.

“We restored some pride today, but still with a lot to do in keeping our momentum going into the away game at Aberavon next week.”

Another of the front row union who played his part, scoring a try, was hooker Huw Dowden, who also gave his post-match views.

“We dug deep to get an important win over RGC” said Dowden. “We’ve had an up and down couple of weeks, scraping wins against Bridgend and Neath, then having a real eye-opener in the defeat to Llandovery.

“We put in a lot of work on our set pieces in training with Smiler (Matthew Rees) and that earned its reward against RGC today. We were switched on and we got things right, showing a good attitude. It was pleasing also to see some of the youngsters in the squad coming of age in a big game.”

Winger Dale Stuckey was another try scorer for Pontypridd.

“We had targeted this RGC game to get a first win against them” said Stuckey.

“We’d dropped off in our previous games  but showed signs of getting back on track at Swansea last week. We needed to improve again, and we did in a physical encounter against RGC today. We showed that we can stand up and be counted in defence, and put in a big shift to get what could prove to be an important win.”