By Zippy
January 10 2005

Review of this weekends action in the Welsh Premiership. Both Bridgend and Pontypridd gained vital away victories in tough conditions, for details read on.

Llandovery 6 Pontypridd 17

By www.PontypriddRFC.co.uk - Rygbi Pontypridd Rugby: Official Website / Y Wefan Swyddogol - The Valleys' premier Rugby Team

Both teams took time to adapt to the blustery conditions, Llandovery keeping the ball tight to maintain an early territorial advantage. A prolonged period of pressure saw the home team driving right up to the Ponty line, eventually settling for a penalty kicked by outside half Gareth Morgan. The first ten minutes of what had been a low key affair had been played out almost exclusively in the Ponty half, the Valleys team struggling to come to terms with the wind at their backs.

The Drovers’ forward unit kept driving onwards, grinding their way upfield but so far held up by a hard grafting Ponty defence. A long range clearance kick from the boot of full back Morgan Stoddart at last gave Ponty some reprieve, working their way into the home twenty-two. Laying hold of possession, Ponty moved the ball out wide for Stoddart to cut loose, weaving his way through the Llandovery defence for a fine individual try, converted by outside half Dai Flanagan.

The game was now a rare old scrap for possession in the loose, a stalemate in terms of territory with little flow to the play. An injury to the referee further slowed down what had degenerated into a scrappy and ill tempered encounter. At last putting width on the ball, Ponty strung together a fine support move, taking play deep into their opponents’ half, before scrum half Carl Thomas departed injured, replaced by Gareth Jones. A full blooded, if rather lacklustre first half drew to a close, with Ponty holding on to a slender advantage of 3 pts to 7.

Playing into a stiff breeze, Ponty began the second period with ball in hand, making cautious inroads into the home half. Ponty tried hard to generate some momentum, with Stoddart and Lockyear thrusting over the gain line, but the game remaining largely a war of attrition amongst the forwards. A series of close quarter drives took Llandovery into the visitors’ twenty-two, their efforts again rewarded with a penalty kicked by outside half Morgan, with fifty-three minutes gone.

The game continued to progress at a slow pace, interspersed by errors and the frequent interference of the referee’s whistle. The Drovers continued to press forwards, putting pressure on the visitors’ defence, but rarely threatening a breakthrough with their one dimensional style of play. There were rare glimpses of attacking flair from Ponty, attempting to bring their three-quarters into play, but the game largely bogged down in the middle of the park, registering a low entertainment value.

Stringing together some useful phases of support play, Ponty forged their way right up to the home line, winger Richard Fussell going close to scoring in the corner. Now into the final ten minutes of the game, Ponty continued to hold the upper hand, trying hard to be creative by spreading the ball along the back line. A series of forward charges and fine support work took Ponty into their opponents’ twenty-two, Morgan Stoddart breaking through a couple of tackles to register another well taken try, again converted by Flanagan. Ponty were finishing the game on a high, taking play into the home twenty-two and enabling outside half Flanagan to slot over a penalty, well judged into the tricky breeze. With Gerald Cox on as late replacement for Ryan Harford, Ponty remained in control to the end, their efforts rewarded with a worthy away victory by 6 pts to 17.

Pontypridd:

15.Morgan Stoddart. 14.Chris Clayton. 13.Tom Riley. 12.Dafydd Lockyear. 11.Richard Fussell. 10.Dai Flanagan. 9.Carl Thomas (Gareth Jones).

1.Geraint Liddon. 2.Duane Goodfield. 3.Ryan Harford (Gerald Cox). 4.Dale McIntosh – cpt. 5.Chris Martenko. 6.Wayne O’Connor. 7.Rhys Shellard. 8.Dan Godfrey.

Llandovery		(3)6-17(7)		Pontypridd	FT
				Tries: Stoddart 2
				Cons: Flanagan 2
Pens: Morgan 2				Pens: Flanagan

 

Bedwas 7 Bridgend 22

By The Western Mail

CHRIS STEPHENS had every reason to sport a smile of satisfaction after the Ravens had efficiently accounted for struggling Bedwas at the Bridge Field.

The Bridgend coach reflected on a job well done by Mike Powell and his men after they had piled up 22 points with a strong wind behind them before defending a hard-earned lead.

"We are going well at the moment but we needed a big defence to protect a lead I thought was gettable in the conditions. All credit to the senior players who put their hands up and we played really well in the second half to keep them at bay. We are trying to put some consistency together and I was pleased with our application as Bedwas are really strong on their patch," said Stephens.

The Ravens were well served by skipper Powell, Phil Booth and the back row trio of Nathan Strong, Dean Fitzgerald and Chris Davies while Bedwas lacked composure in both attack and defence.

"We didn't create enough and were punished for some poor work in defending our line," said Bedwas coach Steve Law as his side slipped to 13th in the Premiership.

Bridgend held all the aces with centre Ryan Howells racing over for a fine first half try double. The other Ravens' touch-down came from full-back Anthony Carter who sold a neat dummy to finish a smart counter attack with captain David kicking seven points.

Bedwas scored a try by centre John Welch after a floated kick by Andrew James caught out the visitor's cover with James converting.

In a physical forward tussle, Bedwas had Phil Wheeler yellow carded while both sides finished with 14 men - Bridgend's Fitzgerald and Rob Phillips of Bedwas in the sin-bin.

Bedwas		(0)7-22(22)		Bridgend	FT
Tries: Welch				Tries: Carter Howells 2
Cons: James				Cons: David 2
				Pens: David