Llandovery 12 vs Pontypridd 11

Pontypridd kicked off 2024 with a narrow one-point defeat away against champions Llandovery at Church Bank.

A Liam Lloyd try gave Ponty the halftime lead, but it was a second half try from Drovers’ hooker Taylor Davies along with fly-half Jack Maynard’s conversion that made the difference.

The hosts opened the scoring in the third minute when a looping pass was sent out wide to winger Aaron Warren, before an inside ball to loosehead prop Jamie Hughes saw him run in to score from five meters.

Ponty’s response was positive as they looked to play with the ball in hand, winger Dale Stuckey threatened with a couple of trademark runs and grubber kicks.

Llandovery were penalised for not rolling away and fullback Josh Phillips kicked the resulting penalty for Ponty’s first points of 2024 in the 13th minute.

Just a couple of minutes later the Valley Commandos took the lead – Ponty turned the ball over after some good counter-rucking and scrum half Harvey Nash put in a box-kick and with no cover in the Drovers back field, winger Liam Lloyd won the following foot race to re-gather and score. Phillips’ conversion drifted wide but Ponty had the lead 8 points to 5 after quarter of an hour.

Ponty were in control of proceedings for the remainder of the first half, a cross field kick from fly-half Ben Burnell almost created a second try but Lloyd couldn’t quite get his offload away to free captain Kristian Parker.

A little later a last-ditch tackle from Llandovery winger Kian Abraham denied Stuckey a try in the corner, but a knock on in the Drovers lineout that followed gave Ponty a scrum.

Three consecutive penalties came for the Valley Commandos, with Llandovery tighthead prop Llyr Green sent to the sinbin for 10 minutes by referee Adam Jones.

Two reset scrums followed before two more penalties for Ponty saw referee Jones go to his pocket for a second time as replacement tighthead Berian Watkins was shown his marching orders.

Despite the two-man advantage, a handing error from Josh Phillips was the final act of the half and despite their dominance in the set-piece, Ponty only held a narrow 8-5 lead at the break.

HALF TIME – Llandovery 5-8 Pontypridd

Pontypridd opened the scoring in the second half through a second penalty from Josh Phillips to extend their lead to six points – 11 points to 5 after 50 minutes.

The league leaders responded just a couple minutes later with their second try of the afternoon when hooker Taylor Davies crashed over the try line off the back of a rolling maul. Maynard’s conversion nudged Llandovery ahead 12 points to 11.

Ponty replacement backrower Sion Parry was shown a yellow card following an off the ball incident, but some good defence from Ponty on their own try line ensured that the scores remained as they were.

Following a long stoppage in play after an injury to McCauley Rowley, Ponty had the opportunity to take the lead but Phillips’ long range penalty fell agonisingly short.

Ponty had a couple of late attacking chances but couldn’t find a way to score a late winner, so they had to settle for a losing bonus point on their travels.

Pontypridd return to Sardis Road for the first time in 2024 as they look to complete a league double over Neath on January 13th.

FULL TIME – Llandovery 12-11 Pontypridd (6/1/2024)

Match report – Iestyn Thomas

PONTYPRIDD –

15. Josh Phillips. 14. Liam Lloyd. 13. McCauley Rowley (Kyan Lewis). 12. Garyn Smith. 11. Dale Stuckey. 10. Ben Burnell. 9. Harvey Nash (Joel Raikes).

1. Ben Stephens (Tom Devine). 2. Rob Jones (Curtis Greenslade). 3. Tom Harper (Morgan Bosanko). 4. Macauley Cook. 5. Chris Dicomidis. 6. Cai James. 7. Cally James (Sion Parry). 8. Kristian Parker (c) (Joe Miles).

Subs: 16. Curtis Greenslade. 17. Tom Devine. 18. Morgan Bosanko. 19. Joe Miles. 20. Sion Parry. 21. Joel Raikes. 22. Joseph Scrivens. 23. Kyan Lewis.

Try: Liam Lloyd

Penalties: Josh Phillips x 2

Yellow Card: Sion Parry

LLANDOVERY –

15. Tomi Lewis. 14. Kian Abraham. 13. Macs Page. 12. Gabe McDonald. 11. Aaron Warren. 10. Jack Maynard. 9. Daf Land.

1. Jamie Hughes. 2. Taylor Davies. 3. Llyr Green. 4. Jack Jones (c). 5. Ed Scragg. 6. Osian Davies. 7. Stuart Worrall. 8. Nathan Hart.

Subs: 16. Dino Dallavalle. 17. Harry Thomas. 18. Berian Watkins. 19. Joe Powell. 20. Luca Giannini. 21. Adam Warren. 22. Ioan Hughes. 23. Lee Rees.

Tries: Jamie Hughes, Taylor Davies

Conversion: Jack Maynard

Yellow Cards: Llyr Green, Berian Watkins

Referee: Adam Jones

Assistant referees: 1 – Dewi Phillips, 2 – Martyn Jones

WRU Man of the Match: Tom Harper