Pontllanfraith hosted Forgeside at the Welfare for their third league game of the season. Pont made 7 changes to the side that won last time out in the league against Beaufort including an all changed front row. Hooker Kevin Price was given a guard of honour from both sides as he took to the welfare for the final time before donating his kidney to a good friend. Kev’s last dance would be a man of the match performance.
Pont kicked off and immediately found themselves with a lineout on the away sides 22 and after the maul was unplayable, we got our first scrum of the game. With Jay Williams returning to the side after a shoulder injury had kept him out for the last few games, the Pont scrum looked strong and won a penalty on Forgesides put in. Andrew Colwill split the uprights to give Pont the early lead. Fraith failed to deal with the restart and coughed up possession and gave away a succession of penalties in their own half. Following Pont’s 4th straight infringment, the referee was given no choice but to bring out the yellow card with Jay Williams going to the sin bin. Forgeside kicked to touch (smashing Neil Clarkes windscreen in the process) and after a good carry and offload from the away teams centre, Forgeside crossed the tryline to take the lead.
The men in blue responded well despite being a man down, tighthead Rory Butterfield came into the scrums to deputise for Williams, but the same outcome was coming with a Fraith penalty at scrum time. Colwill again slotted the points to put Fraith back into the lead. Following a vicious hand off from hooker Kev Price, Pont were on the attack and winger Brendan Williams put in a clever chip but Forgeside dealt with it well. With a scrum in their own 22, the visitors decided to run the ball from deep with Pont short a man short in the backs and found their way back into Ponts half.
With no angle to work with, full back Ieuan Beal put in a superb 40m clearance to get Pont back up to half way after Forgeside had kicked away their possession. The visitors were penalised a few phases later and then the referee marched them back a further 10m for backchat. Pont kicked for touch on the 22 and set up a beautiful driving maul that was brought down illegally within yards of the line. How this wasn’t a penalty try I’ll never know. But it didn’t matter as Pont opted for the scrum and pushed the visiting pack back over their try line to give scrum half Andrew Deneen the easiest of scores. Forgeside found their way into Ponts half with a promising lineout just before halftime, but captain Jake Bean pinched their lineout and brought up half time.
Half Time: Pontllanfraith 11-5 Forgeside
Forgeside started the second half well and found their way into Ponts 22, but a big tackle from Brendan Williams was the catalyst for a Pont turnover and the men in blue cleared their lines well. A perfectly weighted Colwill kick pinned Forgeside into their corner and Pont ended up with a lineout 5m out. Hooker Kev Price hit back ball from the lineout before regathering the ball and charging for the line, with Ponts second try on the cards the final pass went forward and the visitors cleared.
A scrappy period followed with neither team getting on top before the game was halted for a serious injury to winger Carlos White. The game was halted for about 20 minutes while White was stretchered into the back of a van.
Following the injury, Pont could have been forgiven for letting their game slip, but the home side stuck to the task valiantly. Backrowers Nathan Meyrick and Jake Bean were disrupting the away teams lineout whilst the Pont scrum was still dominant. The combination of strong set piece work and a strong kicking game meant Pont were able to have the upper hand in territory and possession.
The men from Blaenavon had not lost a league game in 693 days and with 5 minutes to go the pressure was starting to show as they lost their discipline receiving both a red card and a yellow card. Colwill added another penalty to make it a two score game before Ieuan-Rhys Beal crossed in the corner with the final play of the game for his 8th try of the season.
Final Score Pontllanfraith 19-5 Forgeside
For the first time this season Pont managed to put in a complete performance for 80 minutes and with Forgeside coming into the season as favourites for the league title, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The only downside to the game was the gruesome injury for Carlos. He sustained a tibia and fibula fracture to go along with a dislocated ankle. He is scheduled to have surgery at some point this weekend. We all wish him a speedy recovery but he assures us he’ll be on the bus next weekend as we travel down to Swansea to take on Penlan RFC. The League 5 West Central outfit are currently undefeated and top of their league and should provide a stern test for Pontllanfraith.
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