Pontllanfraith made the long journey to Llandrindod Wells for the opening round of the WRU Cup. First and foremost, big thanks to all the supporters who made the trip, the sideline at Lant Avenue was full of Pontllanfraith blue and provided the boys with a level of support that would rival many of our home games.
Playing uphill in their change strip of black and red, Pont received the opening kick off and Andrew Colwill put in a big clearance kick to put the ball back into Llandrindod Wells territory but Pont were soon penalised for a high tackle. The resulting lineout wasn’t straight gifting Fraith a scrum which the pack dominantly pushed Llandod back twenty meters from. With the unavailability of a few scrum halves, veteran utility back Martin Gregg was tasked with the 9 jersey and he got into the action immediately with a line break getting Pont onto the front foot. A few rucks later the defence were penalised for hands on Gregg straight in front of the posts. Flyhalf Colwill slotted the penalty kick to give Pont the lead.
Shortly after the restart and some aerial ping pong, captain Jake Bean made a break from halfway into the opponents 22 and after some big carries from the forwards, Nathan Meyrick picked up from the base of the ruck and scooted over the line untouched to score the opening try.
Pont continued to apply pressure with Andew Colwills left boot putting Pont in the right areas of the field and the Pont pack disrupting Llandod’s set piece ball. The second try came when Llandod attempted to spin the ball out wide whilst in their own 22 but fraith winger Tyler Jones showed great anticipation to intercept and dive over for his first of two tries. Fellow winger Carlos White then looked to add another try, but a good covering tackle from the home sides outside half denied him.
More territory from Pont followed after Brendan Williams charged down a kick and another good scrum from Pont saw number 8 Jake Bean tackled just short of the line. Second row Jeff Williams, playing his first competitive game in over a year soon burrowed his way over the whitewash though to get Pont’s third try before the half.
Llandrindod Wells responded well, a dangerous attack was denied by a good covering tackle from full back Ieaun Rhys Beal and Llandod spent the last five minutes of the half attacking Ponts line. The final play of the half saw the home side attacking Pont’s line from a driving lineout, but scrum half Martin Gregg somehow found himself underneath the ball as Llandod went over the line.
Half Time: Llandrindod Wells 0-24 Pontllanfraith
Pont wasted no time in the second half adding to their score. Centre Brendan Williams collected the second half kick off and made good yards up to the half way line. A few phases later a delightful miss pass from Andrew Colwill sent Tyler Jones over in the corner for his second try of the game. Playing up the rather large slope second half with a 29 point deficit, it would’ve been easy for the home side to drop their heads, but much to Llandrindod’s credit they really made a game of it hitting back with a penalty try (despite prop Rory Butterfields comical clearance kick). Pont hit back almost immediately, with full back Ieuan Rhys Beal darting over in the corner and Llandod failed to clear their lines from kick off. In similar fashion to Ponts last match, replacement forward Ethan Jones made an immediate impact, catching the kick off and making 30meters before a knock on stalled Fraith’s progress.
Some indiscipline crept into Pont’s game at this point, with multiple penalties conceded and Tom Hamer sent to the sin bin for a high tackle. Llandod made the extra man count with two quick tries to bring the score back to 17-34. Replacement winger Kian Dugmore was then also yellow carded to put Pont down to 13 men. With the home side building momentum, coach Neil Clarke made the “five fifteen” call from the sideline, imploring his side to keep it tight and kill the game. What followed was a barrage of big carries from Karabo Peachey, Nathan Meyrick, Ryan Szekely and Ethan Jones and Pont slowly and methodically bludgeoned their way forward with flanker Matthew Williams eventually being held up over the line. Llandod opted to take the goal line restart quickly and kicked straight to full back Beal who danced his way over the line for his second try of the game.
Full Time: Llandrindod Wells 21-39 Pontllanfraith
Through to round 2 of the cup. Pleasing display of squad depth having made seven changes to the starting lineup from the West Mon game. Shoutout to Dan Hardwick who put in a big shift on his Pontllanfraith debut. Flanker Matthew “Klunk” Willimas was voted MOTM by the hosts and captain Jake Bean put in a big display winning numerous turnovers.
Next week Pont host Beaufort in a return to league action.
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