The Bryn was the venue for Pontllanfraiths first home game in 6 weeks. Deri were the visitors with Pontllanfraith looking to avenge the 56-3 beating handed by Deri out on the same ground two years ago.
Pont recieved possession first but the beautiful high kick off from Deri put Pont under immediate pressure which lead to a penalty and gave Deri an early 3-0 lead. Pont hit back immediately though, a penalty kick to touch gave Pont a lineout 10 meters out and a well executed rolling maul saw Adrian Greening go over for the opening try. Deri soon reclaimed the lead, with a smart break down the blindside got them their opening try. Deri were dominating at scrum time, but Pont were stronger in the loose and after some sustained pressure and some good line breaks, Mark Counsell picked up from the back of the ruck and bundled over the try line from 5 yards out. Again, full credit to Deri they fought back yet again to re-take the lead but just before half time, another good lineout provided good ball to the backs, a beautiful 10-12 exchange between Tommy Bill Haddock and Leigh Butcher saw Haddock slice through the defensive line and then sold the full back an audacious dummy and crossed under the posts.
Half Time: Pontllanfraith 17-13 Deri
The second half started in a similar fashion with Tom Haddock crossing for his second try earning Pont the bonus point. Again Deri fought back with a try of their own to bring them back with a score. Pont's 1st penatly kick then followed to give a seven point lead which soon turned into a 12 point lead when Pont had numbers on the blindside and a good miss pass saw the winger go over in the corner. Pontllanfraith never do anything easy and a combination of indiscipline and Deri's persistance set up a tense finale. Repeated infringements saw Adrian Greening yellow carded and all of a sudden Deri had their tails up. A penalty try soon followed after their scrum proved too much stop legally from 5 yards out and the score was 30-25 to Pont. At this point after consultation the referee announced the score was 27-28 to Deri, he had mistakingly awarded Deri 3 points for Pont's second half penalty. Had the remainder of the match remainded scoreless, the final whistle would've been interesting as both teams thought they were winning. However the match was eventually put to bed when a nice break from Trigger sent the full back scampering down the touchline to seal victory for Pont.
Full Time: Pontllanfraith 35-25 Deri
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