Glamorgan Wanderers 12-18 Pontypridd

A week is as long a time in rugby as in any other sphere of life, and having hit the heights in their table topping clash with Swansea the previous Saturday, Pontypridd descended to mediocrity in battling their way to a 12pts to 18 win over the Wanderers in a low quality encounter.

Having started brightly and pushed up to the home line, Ponty however fell behind to a Scott Sneddon penalty with eleven minutes gone. That was to be the only score of a first half which was at best competitive, at worst dire.

Although showing glimpses of creativity, with Matthew Nuthall a willing attacker from deep, Ponty were often penalised, often error prone, often shapeless. As opposing outside halves Sneddon and Bramwell were both guilty of missing kickable goals, the first half came to a close with the Wanderers holding that slender three point lead.

Another Sneddon penalty extended the home team’s lead, before frustrations boiled over into a mass brawl. Ponty finally got their act together, a Bramwell penalty followed by a kick and chase attack rounded off with a try as lock Chris Martenko somersaulted over the line, his score converted by Bramwell.

As a speculative cross kick from Kristian Baller was chased down for a try scored by winger Chris Clayton, Ponty at last seemed to be pulling away, but any momentum quickly dispersed by a spate of long injury delays.

An exchange of penalty kicks, two for Sneddon interspersed by one for Bramwell kept the scoreboard ticking over through injury time, and Ponty mounting one last ditch defensive effort to keep their opponents at bay, preserving their lead of 12pts to 18 to secure a valuable if uninspiring win on the road.

Pontypridd:

15.Matthew Nuthall. 14.Owen Williams (Lewis Williams). 13.Adam Thomas. 12.Lee Thorne (Dean Gunter). 11.Chris Clayton. 10.Aaron Bramwell. 9.Kristian Baller.

1.John Williams (Pat Palmer). 2.Huw Dowden (Tom Hetherington). 3.Ryan Harford. 4.Grant Harrington (Chris Martenko). 5.Ryan Savage. 6.Chris Dicomidis. 7.Darren Waters (Wayne O’Connor). 8.Nathan Strong – cpt.

Scorers: