Pontypridd 43 vs Cross Keys 12

Pontypridd were victorious in the final of the Welsh Premiership Cup with a six try display in a 43-12 win over Cross Keys at the Principality Stadium.

With a narrow half time lead of 10-5 following a try for Joe Davies and five points from the kicking of Ioan Evans, a commanding second half display which included five Ponty tries rounded off an emphatic performance to end a run of three straight defeats.

Fullback Dale Stuckey thought he had scored the opening try of the final in the second minute as he gathered a cross-field kick from Ioan Evans. But referee Aaron Parry rightfully ruled a knock on from wing Joe Davies in the build-up.

Two minutes later the wing made up for his error when he broke through a couple of defenders to score in the fourth minute, with fly-half Evans adding the conversion.

Cross Keys had an attacking opportunity from the restart when scrum-half Joel Raikes took too long to play the ball from the back of a ruck. Despite the Keys going through several phases inside the opposing 22, their momentum was halted by a turnover from Ponty captain Cally James.

Pontypridd had an attacking chance themselves in the 14th minute, only for Stuckey to be penalised for holding on a short distance away from the tryline.

A miscommunication in the Keys backfield almost resulted in a second score for the Valley Commandos – after a Ioan Evans cross-field kick was spilled, a grubber kick from Stuckey fell kindly to Louis Rochefort-Shugar who was crossed the tryline. But following a TMO check, it was deemed that Rochefort-Shugar had used up all his movements getting to the tryline before placing the ball on the line.

The attack for Kris Parker’s side was nearly starting to click with a lovely first phase move from a scrum giving Stuckey and Davies space out wide, only to be stopped by the covering defence.

In the 28th minute, Joe Davies took a high ball before starting an attack by beating a couple of defenders, only for his pass to be deliberately knocked on by Keys winger Ralph Miller who was shown a yellow card.

The resulting penalty saw fly-half Evans kick a penalty-goal to extend his side’s lead to 10 points, 10-0 after half an hour of play.

Despite the player disadvantage, it was the Keys who got the next points on the board after a penalty offence where Ben Stephens was penalised for ripping the ball illegally off the floor. A kick to the corner followed and a rolling maul was set up behind the jumping pod, which rumbled over to score with captain Corey Nicholls grounding the ball for the try.

With points on the board the momentum suddenly swung the way of the Keys with fly-half Rhys Jones darting through midfield to break clear only to be stopped by the covering Ponty defence. An excellent turnover from Mitch Barnard relieved pressure, but not for long as Stuckey’s clearing kick went straight to his opposite number Ben Roberts.

But Roberts’ pass failed to find his support and it was bundled into touch to mark the end of a tense first half, with Ponty leading 10-5 at the interval.

HALF TIME – Cross Keys 5-10 Pontypridd

Joe Davies went on another one of his mazy runs at the beginning of the second half as he beat two defenders before Ponty were awarded a penalty for not releasing the tackler in the breakdown.

A few minutes later, Ponty got their second try of the match through centre Stuart Floyd-Ellis who had to be patient following several forward phases in the build up inside the Keys 22.

The try set off a spark for the Valley Commandos who again benefitted from a turnover from Cally James to set up another attack in the 22.

Moments later, referee Parry delved into his pocket for a second time after a high tackle from Keys inside centre Duan Thomas on wing Rochefort-Shugar.

In similar fashion to the opposition in the first half, a kick to the corner was in order but Ponty used a more traditional rolling maul but it had the same impact, with hooker Rob Jones burrowing over for the score.

Immediately from the restart, fly-half Evans flew through a gap in the Keys defence before kicking a brilliant 50/22 despite a couple of question marks from Ponty supporters when there were players in support.

Wing Davies crossed for his second try from short range after Ponty again showed their patience in the build-up following several phases of play close to the tryline.

The pick of the tries came just after the hour mark, with Player of the Match Joe Davies involved again with a chip he regathered before assisting a try to replacement Lucus Welch who was on hand in support to score a fifth Ponty try.

Try number six arrived through the capable hands of head coach Kristian Parker who crossed over from short distance in the 73rd minute. Jaydan Pugh’s conversion extended the lead to 43 points to 5.

There was something for the Keys supporters to celebrate in the second half with a penalty-try in the final five minutes, although replacement hooker Connah Hughes may feel hard done by as he thought he had grounded the ball. Replacement Ponty hooker Jeff Young was sin-binned as a result of his infringement which led to the penalty-try award.

But with the scoreboard out of reach with Ponty comfortably ahead, the celebrations began when Lucus Welch booted the ball out of play with the clock in the red and Pontypridd claimed this season’s Welsh Premiership Cup.

FULL TIME – Cross Keys 12-43 Pontypridd (5/4/2025)

Match report – Iestyn Thomas

PONTYPRIDD –

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

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

Subs: 16. Jeff Young. 17. Ben Drew. 18. Morgan Bosanko. 19. Oliver Lewis. 20. Aled Evans. 21. Lucus Welch. 22. Jaydan Pugh. 23. Sam Talbot.

Tries: Joe Davies x 2, Stuart Floyd-Ellis, Rob Jones, Lucus Welch, Kristian Parker

Conversions: Ioan Evans x 4, Jaydan Pugh

Penalty: Ioan Evans

Yellow Card: Jeff Young

CROSS KEYS –

15. Ben Roberts. 14. Ralph Miller. 13. Tom Sullivan. 12. Duan Thomas. 11. Laurence Donnelly. 10. Rhys Jones. 9. Tom Bridge.

1. Jake Wisniewski. 2. Nathan Huish. 3. Richard Cornock. 4. Jon Verrier. 5. Harvey Reader. 6. Sam Llewellyn. 7. Louis Pullen. 8. Corey Nicholls (c).

Subs: 16. Connah Hughes. 17. Rhys Hunt. 18. Tom Burnham. 19. Callum Hague. 20. Will Morgan. 21. Ben Murphy. 22. Dan Babos. 23. Adam Tetley.

Tries: Corey Nicholls, Penalty-try

Yellow Cards: Ralph Miller, Duan Thomas

Referee: Aaron Parry

Assistant Referee 1: Gwyn Morris

Assistant Referee 2: Gavin Roberts

Assistant Referee 3: Simon Davies

Assistant Referee 4: Lee Parry

TMO: Jenny Davies

WRU Player of the Match: Joe Davies

PRFC Man of the Match: Joe Davies