Pontllanfraith travelled to Abercwmboi for a floodlight friendly to provide welcome gametime during the international hiatus.
Abercwmboi started much stronger and a few well placed kicks from their 10 saw them march into Pont's territory and not long later the home side went over for the first try with a well excecuted rolling maul from their lineout. The referee then decided to take centre stage and Pont were down to 13 men thanks to two yellow cards. The first for Adrian Greening for side entry, the second to Nathan Hughes for being a bit chopsy. Both were extremely harsh given the occasion. Pont dug deep with two men off the field and only conceded 1 try in this period. Once back up to 15, Pont got back into the game behind a dominant scrummaging display, but the referee kept opting for a reset rather than a penalty every time Pont drove the opposition backwards.
Half Time: Abercwmboi 10-0 Pontllanfraith
Pontllanfraith were the better team second half, but poor handling meant the score never quite came. Abercwmboi then went and scored against the run of play to give them a 17-0 lead. As the game went into the final 20 minutes, Abercwmboi began to tire and more scrum dominance from Pont lead the hosts to go passive. Eventually Pont's first try came when No.8 Gavin Thomas ran a good angle and touched down under the posts and then Nathan Hughes went the length of the field to score again to make it 17-14. But it was too little too late.
First and foremost thank you to a few boys from other clubs who helped us get a full side on the field and thanks to Abercwmboi for hosting the game, great facility you've got there. Also everyone at Pontllanfraith wishes your outside half makes a speedy recovery.
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