Pontllanfraith travelled up the valley to Beaufort looking to continue their promotion push. With back row regulars Nathan Meyrick, Matthew Williams and Richie Meyrick-Parker all unavailable, it was a much changed pack with Huw Meyrick switching from second row to the flank, and Barrie Curtis and Dan Hardwick coming in for just their first games since October.
In the pouring rain, Beaufort kicked off with the wind at their back and following a high tackle from Pont, Beaufort had an early shot at the posts from the 10meter line which was slotted to give the hosts an early lead. Pont responded well, Outside half Andrew Colwill made a break from inside his 22 allowing Pont to get up to half way before a knock on thwarted momentum. Pont won the scrum against the head and were back on the front foot, a clever chip from Colwill looked set to put full back Ieuan Beal in, but the bounce of the ball eluded him and Beaufort gathered and cleared their lines.
The home side then extended their lead with a try in the corner after some poor tackling from Pont. Beaufort knocked on the restart to gift Fraith some good territory, and after some good carries from Matthew Morgan, his centre parter Lee Butcher went over in the corner to cut the deficit to five points. In similar fashion to the last restart, it was Pont’s turn to knock on the kick off and Beaufort didn’t waste the opportunity scoring again in the corner. Once again Beauforts hooker continued his fine kicking performance slotting the conversion to extend the lead.
Half Time: Beaufort 17-5 Pontllanfraith
With conditions worsening, the second half was a scrappy affair with both side struggling to string the phases together. Pont had the majority of the possession but Beaufort defended superbly and Pont rarely threatened the Beaufort line. Eventually a well placed grubber from Andrew Colwill was pounced on by winger Josh Morrill to score Ponts second try. Morrill was soon back into the action at the other end of the field with some brilliant last gasp cover defence.
Beaufort were soon down to 14 men after one of their back rowers was rather fortunately just given a yellow card for a headbutt. Pont had one last shot to tie the game with a lineout in Beaufort’s 22 when the ref called “last play”, but the throw went amiss and the game was over.
Final Score: Beaufort 17 – 10 Pontllanfraith
Full credit to the home side for an outstanding display, their league position certainly doesn’t reflect the performances Pontllanfraith has come up against in both the home and away fixture this season. Fraith will look to regroup and refocus with a trip to Hollybush two weeks away.
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