Defeat at the Wanderers

On Saturday 3d May Pontypridd Youth (seniors) travelled to Glamorgan Wanderers for a rearranged league fixture. With both sides vying for top spot and promotion it was going to be a vital game, but with Ponty rocked by injury and player withdrawals. 

The home team played with the wind in the first half and took the game to Ponty from the start. The Wanderers were quick to capitalise on mistakes and after a concerted period of pressure they forced Ponty into conceding a penalty that was converted to take an early lead of 3-0. It was inevitable that another score would come, as the Wanderers clearly had the edge behind the scrum with their speedy back line, but it came in controversial fashion. The Wanderers crossed for a try, whilst a  fight continued away from play however the referee decided to let the score stand. 

Ponty nearly opened their account with a long range penalty, but it struck the post and the danger was cleared. The visitors however started to get the upper hand at the scrum, and after a great take against the head, they launched an attack that saw Aaron Atkins cross the try line, only to be penalised for a double movement. After another scrum, great work from the front five saw Ponty win a penalty that this time was converted by Simms, to take the half time score to 8 -3. 

Although with the wind in their favour in the second half Ponty had a disastrous start, spilling possession in their own half and allowing the Wanderers to cross in the corner for a second try that went unconverted. 

Ponty knew they had to dig deep to get back into the game, and adopted a high risk strategy, but the opposition winger running the length of the field for a gift of a try under the posts that was simply converted to take the score to Glamorgan Wanderers 20 Pontypridd 3. 

Things now started to go from bad to worse for Ponty, with a disallowed try, then a yellow card for lock Sullivan, and the Wanderers converting another penalty. It was now simply a matter of playing for pride for Ponty, and after a sustained period of pressure, wing Billy Waters crossed on the left for an excellent try, although typically of their luck on the day, Simms narrowly missed the conversion.  When Sullivan returned to the fray, he was at the heart of a superb driving maul that saw Ponty drive play to just 5 metres short of the Wanderers line, but once again poor handling costing dearly. 

As if to rub salt into the wounds, Ponty lost prop Sullivan and centre Dan Dearden with injuries in the last five minutes, and with no other substitutes available, both Aaron Atkins and Marc Jones saw out the remainder of the game carrying injuries. The final score on a very disappointing day was Glamorgan Wanderers 23 Pontypridd 8. 

The two sides will meet again next week at Sardis Road for the last league fixture of the season.