Pontypridd 31 vs Cinderford 26

Pontypridd made it three wins out of three in pre-season with a 31-26 win over Cinderford at Sardis Road.

Tries from Stuart Floyd-Ellis, Oli Shepherd, Mitch Barnard, Cai James and Dale Stuckey were enough for the hosts in a game which saw nine tries as the English visitors crossed for four themselves.

A 50:22 from fly-half Jacob Symes after an early spell of Cinderford possession gave Ponty a first attacking opportunity of the match.

Wing George Thorington thought he had scored following a few phases of attack but was adjudged to have knocked the ball on over the try line by referee Gareth Newman.

Cindy were then penalised twice for offside infringements and the pressure told when the hosts opened the scoring through outside centre Stuart Floyd-Ellis who broke through the line after a Garyn Smith pop pass. Jacob Symes added the extras for a 7-0 lead after 9 minutes.

The visitors responded immediately after Ponty were penalised for holding on, a kick to the corner gave them a platform to attack, in which inside centre Hugo Murray offloaded to Will Baldwin who scored. Jake McMahon’s conversion levelled the scores.

The English National 2 side led after 20 minutes when an error from the home team was pounced upon by scrum half Sam Allford who ran in from 65 metres to score under the posts. McMahon again added the extras.

Ponty’s response was positive as they picked up their second try when Floyd-Ellis’ one-handed offload found fullback Oli Shepherd who crossed in the corner, a second conversion from fly-half Jacob Symes levelled the scores at 14-all after 25 minutes.

A third try came for the home team after 37 minutes when second row Mitch Barnard scored from a powerful rolling maul off the back of a second 50:22 touch finder from Symes, with the score being converted by the fly-half.

Cinderford scored their third try on the stroke of halftime with fullback Johnson burst through the defence before passing to Hugo Murray who broke through the final Ponty tackle to dot down. The conversion from fly-half Luke McMahon took the scores to 21-all at halftime.

HALF TIME – Pontypridd 21-21 Cinderford

Pontypridd picked up their fourth try nine minutes into the second half with Dale Stuckey stepping and passing, gave space to Thorington and two phases later blindside flanker Cai James crashed over for the try, but Symes’ conversion went wide.

Cinderford grabbed their fourth try through Elliot Southworth who crossed in the right hand corner, but the conversion went to the left of the posts and the scores were locked at 26-all.

Just past the hour mark Ponty outside centre Floyd-Ellis capitalised on a Cinderford error as he carved through the defence before being tackled by Johnson, before Cally James won a turnover for holding on. A quick tapped-penalty was taken by Lucus Welch and the ball was passed out wide to Stuckey who scored.

There was only five points between the two sides for the remainder of the match and both had chances to score, but it was Ponty that held out to claim a 31-26 victory in a highly entertaining encounter.

Pre-season preparations will continue on Saturday August 24^th when Cardiff visit Sardis Road before Ponty welcome St. Albans on August 31^st in their final preparation fixture ahead of the 2024/25 Welsh Premiership season.

FULL TIME – Pontypridd 31-26 Cinderford (17/8/2024)

Match report – Iestyn Thomas

PONTYPRIDD –

15. Oli Shepherd. 14. George Thorington. 13. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 12. Garyn Smith. 11. Dale Stuckey. 10. Jacob Symes. 9. Joel Raikes.

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

Subs: 16. Tom Fry. 17. Jeff Young. 18. Dylan Kelly. 19. Kian Mattravers. 20. Dan Cotterell. 21. Cole Parry. 22. Dylan John. 23. Joe Miles. 24. Lucus Welch. 25. Jaydan Pugh. 26. Brandon Huntley. 27. Ty Lewis. 28. Will Huggins. 29. Sam Talbot.

Tries: Stuart Floyd-Ellis, Oli Shepherd, Mitch Barnard, Cai James, Dale Stuckey

Conversions: Jacob Symes x 3

CINDERFORD –

Backs: Harry Johnson, Elliott Southworth, David Gamble, Will Baldwin, Hugo Murray, Harry Tovey, Dan Nicholls, Jake McMahon, Tom Unsworth, Sam Allford, Harvey Gillott, Sam Smith.

Forwards: Harry Edwards, George Alexander, Ethan Shewring, George Perry, James Elliot, Nathan Taylor, Luc Woodall, Callum Thompson, Tyler Jerrum (c), Jack Cuthbert, Will Blowers, Toby Powell, Daniel Broady, George Angell, Ben Carpenter, Aaron Ryan, Will Korb, James Kear, Ewan Gwynne.

Tries: Will Baldwin, Sam Allford, Hugo Murray, Elliot Southworth

Conversions: Jake McMahon x 3

Referee: Gareth Newman