Pontypridd v St Albans – Matchday Preview
On Saturday 31st August Pontypridd RFC play their final game in the team’s 2024 pre-season schedule against St Albans RFC at Sardis Road. The day will be a double-header with the two clubs’ Youth sides playing as well. The kick-off time for Ponty Youth and St Albans Youth is 12:15pm.
Pontypridd and St Albans, or The Buns as they are more affectionately known, have never met in the 15-man form of the game. In more recent times the Tremorfa Park men have produced three players that have gone onto represent Pontypridd RFC. Two of them, props Curtis Hicks and Nathan Trevett, in just a handful of matches whilst the other – Ryan Harford, would go on to be a Ponty stalwart for many years. Ryan was a real favourite with the Sardis faithful during his eight seasons with the Club between 2003-2011, and he amassed 224 appearances during that time.
Ponty Youth and St Albans Youth will be a bit more familiar with each other having recently played each other in the Sardis 7s Youth Cup final on Friday 26th July – Pontypridd triumphed that evening.
St Albans enjoyed a successful last campaign winning Division 3 East Central and as a result will play in Division 2 East Central this season, under the reign of newly appointed Head Coach, the aforementioned Nathan Trevett.
Pontypridd head into this Saturday’s match having won all four pre-season matches to date, the latest being last Saturday’s excellent 43-28 win over Cardiff. St Albans beat Dinas Powys 41-22 on Saturday 10th August in their only pre-season game prior to their visit to Sardis this week. This weekend’s match will be another good test for the Valley Commandos as they prepare for their Welsh Premiership opener against Bargoed on Saturday 14th September.
SUPPORTER INFORMATION:
Tickets – Saturday’s match is all-pay therefore season tickets aren’t valid (except for Gold Card members) and admission prices for the match will be £5.00 full, £4.00 concession access-all-areas and under 16’s free if accompanied by a paying adult. Our E-ticketing service isn’t available for our pre-season matches so tickets can only be purchased on the day. We accept both cash and card but please note that cash payments will likely allow quicker entry into the stadium. Supporter access is via the Clubhouse end of the ground only.
Club Shop – The Club Shop will be open for around an hour before and an hour after Saturday’s match and whilst the Club is still awaiting its brand new playing kit and merchandise ahead of the new season, there’s still bargains to be had on old stock so come and have a look inside this Saturday afternoon.
Ground opening – The Clubhouse will be open at the slightly earlier time of 11:30am this week because of the Youth match, and an hour later we will be showing live coverage of Arsenal v Brighton in the Premier League – 12:30pm kick off.
We look forward to you joining us on Saturday as we bring down the curtain on our pre-season itinerary.
