Merthyr 30 vs Pontypridd 21

Merthyr opened the scoring as Ponty conceded a penalty at a scrum in front of their own posts allowing home full back Matthew Jarvis to slot over an easy penalty.

On fifteen minutes a brawl broke out and after referee Ben Whitehouse consulted with his linesman he issued a red card to Ponty prop Corey Domachowski  and a yellow to Merthyr second row Craig Locke. When the rugby match finally resumed Ponty worked the ball wide for full back Dale Stuckey to dive over in the corner with outside half Ceri Sweeney converting from the touchline.

With the visitors temporarily down to thirteen men due to an injury to scrum half Wayne Evans, the Ironmen created an overlap allowing wing Richard Carter to cross out wide. Right on the stroke of half time the home side were camped on the Ponty try line, sustained pressure paying off as winger Alex Howman touched down next to the posts. Matthew Jarvis converted the score to see his side go in at the break 15pts to 7 ahead.

Pontypridd started the second half on top and thought they had scored a deserved try when Chris Dicomidis crossed but the referee ruling that the last pass went forward. However from the ensuing scrum Merthyr broke the length of the field for wing Alex Howman to ground the ball  under the posts with Matthew Jarvis converting the score.

The visitors, despite being down to fourteen men, were dominating territory and possession and when a well worked attack was finished off by replacement Morgan Sieniawski and his try converted by Sweeney, a comeback against the odds looked on.

It would be the home side however who scored next and with it claimed the bonus point try when prop Nathan Trevett barged over from close range.

With the clock coming up to the 80 minutes Ponty again laid siege to the home try line and were rewarded as centre Geraint Walsh crashed over. With Ceri Sweeney converting it seemed that  the visitors would claim a well-deserved losing point but straight from the restart Ponty conceded a penalty which Matthew Jarvis converted, sealing the Merthyr victory by 30pts to 21.

Merthyr:

15.Matthew Jarvis. 14.Richard Carter. 13.Josh Martin. 12.Aaron Pinches. 11.Alex Howman. 10.Gareth Davies (Richard Powell). 9.Justin James.

1.Nathan Trevett. 2.Rhys Morgan. 3.Joe Rees. 4.Ben Sier (James Davies). 5.Craig Locke – cpt. 6.Nick White (Lee Evans). 7.Ed Siggery. 8.Phil Rees.

Tries: Carter (32); Howman (40, 54); Trevett (70)

Cons: Jarvis (40, 54)

Pens: Jarvis (9, 80)

Pontypridd:

15.Dale Stuckey. 14.Lewis Williams (Ian George). 13.Geraint Walsh. 12.Dafydd Lockyer – cpt. 11.Alex Webber. 10.Ceri Sweeney. 9.Wayne Evans (Joel Raikes).

1.Corey Domachowski. 2.Huw Dowden. 3.Kieran Assiratti (Tom Mably). 4.Josh Hawkins (Morgan Sieniawski). 5.Chris Dicomidis. 6.Sean Moore. 7.Rhys Shellard. 8.Alun Lawrence (Jake Thomas).

Tries: Stuckey (19); Sieniawski (65); Walsh (79)

Cons: Sweeney (19, 66, 79)

WRU man of the match:- Alun Lawrence

Referee:-  Ben Whitehouse