Pontypridd 43 vs Brecon 11

Pontypridd returned to winning ways in the Admiral Premiership with a 43-11 victory over Brecon at Sardis Road.

Following defeat to Merthyr last weekend, Ponty responded with a bonus-point win with tries from Jeff Young, Mitch Barnard, a brace from Garyn Daniel, Lucus Welch and Dale Stuckey, whilst fly-half Jaydan Pugh kicked 13 points.

Brecon opened the scoring in the third minute with a penalty from James Dixon, a neat first phase move from a scrum saw wing Chad Davies in space to provide the platform as Ponty were penalised for not rolling away.

Ponty won the restart after a knock on from the visitors and were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, which fly-half Jayden Pugh added for the host’s first points of the match.

In the 7^th minute, an excellent offload from Logan McIntosh provided space for his captain Alwyn Lee who passed to wing Davies, but he was stopped short of the try line by Ponty captain Cally James.

Four minutes later, Ponty took the lead through the rolling maul with hooker Jeff Young on the end of a powerful drive. Jaydan Pugh added the conversion for a 10-3 lead after 12 minutes.

The hosts built up phases again after a penalty for holding on and continued to apply pressure in the Brecon half. Neat hands from Cai James and Jeff Young saw second row Mitch Barnard on the receiving end of an offload from Morgan Bosanko and he broke through to score his team’s second try of the afternoon.

Brecon fought back and scored in the 33rd minute after an attacking scrum five meters out. After two phases of Ponty defence holding out, the ball was spun out wide to fullback Jake Newman who beat the covering defence to score in the corner, although the conversion from fly-half Dixon drifted wide.

Both teams were looking to play in the half’s final stages, but the whistle went and Ponty led 17-8 at the interval.

HALF TIME – Pontypridd 17-8 Brecon

James Dixon started the second half like he did the first with a well struck penalty to narrow the scores to six points, 17-11 in the 45^th minute.

At this point most of the momentum was with the visitors who controlled the kicking battle well, but a knock on from wing Tom Richards ended the momentum to give a Ponty scrum which relived some pressure.

The hosts managed to get momentum back in the 54^th minute after another rolling maul. Once the maul had ended, a Garyn Smith carry saw Ponty get within striking range and replacement prop Garyn Daniel burrowed over to score.

A few minutes later the bonus point try was scored by the hosts in similar fashion to their third try, Garyn Daniel crossed for his second try in 5 minutes with the help of support from his fellow Ponty forwards. The conversion from Pugh was charged down but Ponty now had an 18 point lead, 29-11 as the match approached the hour mark.

The pick of the tries came in the final few minutes when Joe Davies picked up the ball from his own half and evaded a couple of defenders before passing to replacement scrum half Lucus Welch who was supporting to cross unopposed.

The contest was approaching the 80-minute mark, but there was still time for Dale Stuckey to score as Ponty reached the 40 point mark following a kick from replacement Oli Shepherd on his return from injury – Stuckey showed his pace to pick up the bouncing ball and to cross with the final play of the match. Jaydan Pugh’s touchline conversion put the icing on a fine 43-11 win for the Valley Commandos.

The Welsh Premiership will take a week’s break with Wales hosting South Africa on Saturday November 23^rd, Ponty will return to action away at the Lextan Gnoll with a clash against Neath on Saturday November 30^th.

FULL TIME – Pontypridd 43-11 Brecon (16/11/2024)

Match report – Iestyn Thomas

PONTYPRIDD –

15. Dale Stuckey. 14. Stuart Floyd-Ellis (Oli Shepherd). 13. Garyn Smith. 12. Ioan Evans. 11. Louis Rochefort-Shugar (Joe Davies). 10. Jaydan Pugh. 9. Joel Raikes (Lucus Welch).

1. Ben Drew (Ben Stephens) . 2. Jeff Young (Rob Jones). 3. Morgan Bosanko (Garyn Daniel). 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Kristian Parker (Lloyd Riley). 6. Cai James. 7. Cally James (c). 8. Joe Miles (Cole Parry).

Subs: 16. Rob Jones. 17. Ben Stephens. 18. Garyn Daniel. 19. Cole Parry. 20. Lloyd Riley. 21. Lucus Welch. 22. Joe Davies. 23. Oli Shepherd.

Tries: Jeff Young, Mitch Barnard, Garyn Daniel x 2, Lucus Welch, Dale Stuckey

Conversions: Jaydan Pugh x 5

Penalties: Jaydan Pugh

BRECON –

15. Jake Newman. 14. Tom Richards. 13. Tomos Davies. 12. Jack Dixon. 11. Chad Davies. 10. James Dixon. 9. Lewis Jones.

1. Lewis Smout. 2. Aneurin James. 3. Chris Phillips. 4. Alwyn Lee (c). 5. Callum Bradbury. 6. Ioan Edwards. 7. Matthew Williams. 8. Logan McIntosh.

Subs: 16. Rhys Williams. 17. Andy Nicholl. 18. Curtis Whitford. 19. James Roberts. 20. Tom Offa. 21. Geraint Workman. 22. Darran Harris. 23. Ollie Lewis.

Try: Jake Newman

Penalties: James Dixon x 2

Referee: Andrew Moule

Assistant Referee/Third Official: Simon Harris

Golden Bob Man of the Match: Joe Miles