Fixture

Pontrhydyfen travelled to Tonna on a cold, damp and misty day; where 4^th played 3^rd in the league, on what will be the last league game of 2016 for both teams.

Tonna kicked off and were awarded an early penalty in front of the Ponty posts, which they duly took give them an early lead 3-0. Pontrhydyfen then struck back with a try by capt Rhys Curtis who broke free from a powerful forwards drive to cross the Tonna try line which was converted by Morgan Kennerley, 7-3 to Ponty.

Soon after Ponty scored another try, this time by some excellent support lines and sublime handling by backs for Morgan Kennerley to finish off, making the score 12-3 to Ponty.

Pontrhydyfen were in full control at this stage and were dictating the pace of the game, that was until Pontrhydyfen fell foul of the referee who then seemed to penalise Ponty at every occasion, this completely killed the pace of the game and handed the momentum to Tonna, who gladly took the points on offer, and without ever threatening the Pontrhydyfen tryline, had now found themselves 12-9 at half-time.

Half-time Tonna 9 Pontrhydyfen 12

Tonna now sensing Pontrhydyfen’s frustration at the referee’s interpretation of the breakdown were happily taking the points on offer and found themselves leading 15-12 early into the second half with not having to do a great deal with the ball.

This only galvanised the Ponty side and after some words of wisdom from the coaches on the sidelines, Ponty decided to not over compete at the breakdown and rely on aggressive defence to force turnover the ball.

This paid dividends as Ponty were now getting a lot more territory and possession and putting Tonna under tremendous pressure in their own 22. The resulting pressure on Tonna forced a turnover and Ponty were awarded a penalty, which Morgan Kennerley converted, all square 15-15.

This now set the tone for the rest of the game as Ponty were now starting to get the upper hand in the scrums and lineouts, gaining good territory and possession.

Ponty now sensing victory turned down a kickable penalty and kicked to the corner and from the resulting lineout Ponty drove over the Tonna line but were denied a try when the referee couldn’t see the grounding. From the resulting 5 yard scrum Mark Davies picked up at the base and burst through between two defenders to score, which was converted now making the score 15-22.

Ponty now were now chasing the bonus point try and they didn’t have to wait long to get it, after getting good territory and some strong pick and drives from the forwards, quick ball out to the backs found Tonna short of defenders for outside half Michael Mcsweeney to glide through a gap to score, 15-27 to Ponty.

Tonna now realising, that with time running out, they couldn’t rely on just penalties and now had to score tries to get anything out of the game and credit to Tonna that is exactly what they did, even though it was a dubious refereeing decision, score now 22-27 with only a 1min on the clock.

From the long restart Tonna now had to run it out from their own 22 and keep the ball alive, but the Ponty defensive line was good and forced a turnover just outside the Tonna 22, with all the Ponty supporters shouting kick the ball out, Ponty had other ideas and spotted  an overlap and put to it through the hands to winger Matthew Hooper to step inside the last defender and pass to veteran prop Jason Hole to dive in the corner, the tremors could be felt back in Ponty when he hit the ground with the grace of three legged warthog!

Supporters Man Of the Match was Curtis Warlow (picked by his grandfather ), but in all seriousness Curtis had an excellent game on his debut for Ponty.

An excellent end to 2016 and Ponty now sit 3^rd in the league with a game in hand. Great effort by all involved now let’s push on in 2017 and climb further again up the league.  Have a great Christmas and happy New Year!