Leinster A 32-0 Pontypridd

Pontypridd bowed out of the British & Irish Cup going down to a comprehensive quarter final defeat away to Leinster A.

The Irish province ran in four tries, two each side of the interval to reflect a dominant performance.

It was home outside half Noel Reid who set the scoreboard in motion with two early penalty kicks putting his side six points up with as many minutes on the clock. Reid then created the opening for Leinster centre Conor Gilsenan to cut through for a try which Reid converted.

The Irish were securing a steady stream of possession from the breakdown, looking potent with ball in hand and despite having Gilsenan sent to the sin bin, were still very much to the fore. A drive over the Ponty line seemed to have produced another score but the referee declining the decision. Into first half injury time Leinster gained their reward as centre Brendan Macken squeezed in for a try in the corner, Reid’s wide angle conversion notching up an interval scoreline of 20pts to 0.

It was more of the same as the second half got underway, Leinster pounding into a hard grafting Ponty defence. The killer blow was delivered in the fifty-third minute as home centre Macken intercepted a pass on his own twenty-two and raced clear to score, with Reid once more adding the conversion.

Pontypridd were enduring intense pressure but gamely holding out against the tide of attacks. Into the final ten minutes Leinster killed the game off as winger Darren Hudson evaded the cover defence to claim a touchdown which went unconverted.

A final score of 32pts to 0 in Leinster’s favour reflected their dominance and their right of passage into the BIC semi final draw.

Pontypridd:

15.Harley Thomson. 14.Lewis Williams. 13.Gavin Dacey. 12.Dafydd Lockyer (Gary Williams). 11.Matthew Nuthall. 10.Simon Humberstone (Gareth Wyatt). 9.Rhys Downes (Garyn Lucas).

1.Chris Phillips (Pat Palmer). 2.Huw Dowden (Rhys Williams). 3.Pat Palmer (Ryan Harford). 4.Cory Hill. 5.Ryan Savage (Jake Thomas). 6.Chris Dicomidis – cpt. 7.Wayne O’Connor. 8.Dan Godfrey (Tom Hetherington).

Scorers: