Ponty Minis take on Caerphilly

On Sunday 3d April, the Pontypridd minis age groups under 8s, 9s and 10s, played a round of matches against near neighbours Caerphilly.

Under 8's Development Pontypridd 15 - 0 Caerphilly
Under 8's Pontypridd 20 - 20 Caerphilly
Under 9's Development Caerphilly 0 - 30 Pontypridd
Under 9's Caerphilly 0 - 25 Pontypridd
Under 10's Caerphilly 0 - 25 Pontypridd

Under 8's Pontypridd 20 - 20 Caerphilly

This was a closely fought game, with a well deserved draw for Pontypridd.

Ponty 8's had to endure almost gale force winds in Caerphilly, in addition to a small pitch, a full team of 10 a side, and still put in a good show. The runners in the team had to wait as the game was fought in the middle of the park with only the odd ball going wide. As the game progressed there were more chances for breaks but the size of the pitch definitely hampered the faster Ponty boys.

First to score was Mason "catch 'em every time with my dummy pass" Pritchard with a quick dart to the line after throwing one of his finest dummies. Next up was Owain Morris' try - a great combination of skill and speed made sure the try was his for the taking. Caerphilly responded with a couple of well worked tries which put them one try up with barely a minute to go. With both sides putting everything into the game, it looked more like "Casualty" on a Saturday night with lots of boys injured (none seriously though). In almost the last play of the match Rhys Grainger sprinted off down the touchline only to be caught just shy of the line. He quickly tapped the ball to Mason Pritchard who threw a great long pass to super sub Aaron who put the ball down for a last minute try any top side would have been proud of.

Aerolite Man of the Match - Callum Tucker

Team on the day was: Rhys Grainger, Daniel Griffiths ©,Mason Pritchard, Chris Temple, Owain Morris, Samuel, Gruffydd Lloyd, Callum Tucker and Lucas Hickman. Subs: Rhys Morris, Aaron, Josh Barnes and Jay Jones.



Under 8's Development Pontypridd 15 - 0 Caerphilly

This was a good win for the team as they continue to show great signs of team play and skill.

A similar game to the Under 8's,  the play was sometimes scrappy and there was not much chance of the runners taking any length of the pitch runs. Josh Barnes opened the scoring for Ponty with a quick dart across the line. Jay Jones quickly followed this up with a great individual try as he took advantage of a Caerphilly dropped ball and quickly scampered across the line. The final try came when Aaron took a quick tap ball and passed to Lucas who sprinted the remaining 10 metres to go over for the try.

Aerolite Man of the Match - Aaron.

Team on the day was: Rhys Morris ©, Jay Jones, Chris Temple, Aaron, Josh Barnes, Owain Morris, Samuel, Gruffydd Lloyd, Daniel Griffiths and Lucas Hickman.

Under 9's Caerphilly 0 - 25 Pontypridd

Try scorers for Pontypridd: Keiran Hughes (2), Ben Stephens, Rhys Blacker and Grant Jones.

Man of the match: Miles Pring

Under 9's Development Caerphilly 0 - 30 Pontypridd

Try scorers for Pontypridd: Rhidian Spencer 2, Jordan Powell, Miles Pring, Ben Stephens and Keiran Hughes.

Man of the match: Jacob Williams

Under 10's Caerphilly 0 - 25 Pontypridd

This was a fine victory for Pontypridd in an unexpectedly one sided game.
Two first half tries by Connaugh Davies and Joshua Phillips gave a half time score of 0-10 with no conversions being taken. Then two Dillon Lewis tries and one from Kyle James in the second half made it 0-25.

Man of the match was Connaugh Davies