Geligaled Park is a lovely rugby ground in the upper reaches of the Rhondda Valley. It is the home of Ystrad Rhondda RFC who were the hosts for Pontypool’s latest league match. It was a glorious spring afternoon that was ideal for rugby and surely a chance to erase the memories of the Wales v Italy match at the Principality Stadium last week.
Pooler got off to a cracking start when, after a
period of sustained pressure, second row Price powered over for a try in the
first few minutes. Jarvis converted and Pooler were up and running at 0-7.
Ystrad Rhondda came back from the early setback
strongly and pressurised the Pontypool line but the visitors’ defence held firm. Ystrad
Rhondda were proving tough opposition with their forward drives difficult to contain.
As the first quarter came to an end, Pooler were awarded a penalty in their own
twenty two. A quickly taken tap penalty and, in a flash, Herbert was crossing
for Pontypool’s second try at the other end of the ground. Again, the try was
converted expertly by Jarvis (0-14).
There was no doubt that Pontypool were gradually
getting on top with the forwards carrying strongly and the backs looking
dangerous. Ystrad Rhondda were competitive at the breakdown and scrum and made
Pontypool work hard. On the half hour, Pontypool struck again when Pat Lewis
showed an excellent turn of speed to outpace the defence and score a try near
the right corner. The metronomic Jarvis converted despite the tricky breeze and
Pontypool had built up a healthy lead at 0-21.
As the first half drew to a close, Pontypool lost the
hardworking Price to a yellow card and scrum half Leonard to injury. Substitute
scrum half Hales did not take long to have an impact as he shrugged off
would-be tacklers to score a fine individual try in the left corner. The
conversion from Jarvis gave Pontypool a 0-28 lead and the try bonus point as
the first half came to a close.
Early in the second half, Ystrad Rhondda lost Hughes
for ten minutes with a yellow card. The loss did not really seem to have a
dramatic effect as, a couple of minutes later, left wing Clarke evaded a couple
of tackles to score in the left corner and get the home side on the scoreboard
(5-28).
The game then seemed to go into a quiet phase as the
substitutes were introduced. Pontypool leaked rather too many penalties which
meant that they lost their rhythm. Their comfortable lead meant that there was
never really any prospect of an Ystrad Rhondda comeback.
Finally, as the third quarter ended, Pontypool put a
great passage of play together with Herbert and Mahoney combining to put
Stratton away. The flanker’s try was converted by Davies and it was 5-35 to
Pooler.
The home side were showing great resilience but were
clearly tiring and in the final quarter Pontypool took full advantage. A
well-worked set piece move saw Lloyd Lewis enter the back line at pace to score
Pooler’s sixth try which was again converted by Davies (5-42).
It was left to Mahoney, who had had a fine match, to
put the finishing touches with a brace of tries. His pace and power proving too
much for the home defence with his second a surge of fifty plus meters. Both
tries were converted by Davies giving a final score of Ystrad Rhondda 5
Pontypool 56.
This was a really good performance from Pontypool
against opponents who never gave up and probably deserved to have scored more
points. When Pontypool get their offloading game going, they really do look
good. There is still a concern about the number of penalties conceded which can
be frustrating at times but, overall, the squad looks in fine fettle despite
the limited amount of rugby that they have played.
Next weekend brings the crunch match with Pooler
travelling to unbeaten local rivals Bargoed. This promises to be a battle royal
and Pooler will need to up their game another couple of notches. As always with
local derbies, it will start up front and it will need a great performance from
the forwards to get the edge. I am looking forward to it with relish.
Come on Pooler!
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