Ponty minis take on Ystrad Mynach

On Sunday 12^th February the Ponty minis, age groups under 8s , under 9s and under 10s, played a series of games against Ystrad Mynach.

Under 8's Pontypridd 15 - 15 Ystrad Mynach

This game was a close encounter with both teams well matched. Ponty were unlucky to come away with just a draw - the Ystrad boys equalised in the final play of the game. The conditions were very muddy which caused a number of dropped passes by both sides. Both sides deserve credit for their performances - the tagging was really good and all round it was a great game to watch.

Harley Jones showed a fine pair of heels when he dodged past their defence and darted for the line for a great try. The second try was well worked between the Smith twins, with Rhodri making great progress towards the line and quickly offloading to his brother Dafydd who went over for a score. Quickly after this, Rhys Grainger had a tremendous charge down the line and seemed unstoppable. The only thing that stopped him in the end was his foot in touch and one of the opposition's heads as they both clashed when he went over the line. The last try went to Josh Barnes as he danced and dodged past the defence and ran over for a superb individual try.

Try scorers - Harley Jones (1), Dafydd Smith (1), Josh Barnes (1).

Aerolite Man of the Match - Harley Jones

Team on the day was: Lucas Hickman, Gruffydd Lloyd, Mason Pritchard, Rhys Grainger, Owain Morris, Josh Barnes, Callum Pearce, Harley Jones, Dafydd Smith and Rhodri Smith.

Under 8's Development Pontypridd 0 - 15 Ystrad Mynach

As Ystrad only had 10 players, the development game was in doubt but they kindly offered us one half so that all children got a run out. Considering our development boys were up against their full strength Under 8s team the boys did really well. In fact, we had most of the possession and were camped out in their half for almost the full 10 minutes. It was some great breakaway tries by Ystrad that saw their boys running the length of the pitch that finished us off. Some solid tagging by Jay and good running by Iwan, Jay and Rhys 'Little' Britton made the game a pleasure to watch.

Team on the day was: Chris Temple, Daniel Griffiths, Rhys Britton, Iwan Cavil, Callum Tucker, Joseff Brown, Jack Layton, Keillan Mahoney, Dafydd Smith and Jay Jones.

 Both the under 8's and development team went on to complete their sponsored conversions after their matches. There were clearly some contenders for the Wales Number 10 Jersey as the quality of the kicks was really good. Watch out Stephen Jones......

Thanks to all the children who took part and the parents for supporting them. As soon as the final amount raised is known, we'll post it up here. Finally, Kevin Britton, father of one of the Under 8 boys Rhys 'Little' Britton has bravely volunteered to do a sponsored bike ride to our away match in Abergavenny on Sunday 19th February. He'll be setting off at the crack of dawn and (hopefully) arriving at Abergavenny in time for our game at 11am. Once he's rested and had his legs massaged by the ladies, he'll decide whether or not to do the return journey. There will be a bucket going around collecting money for this event, so if you want to Kevin complete the return journey and take most of the year off on the sick, please give generously !! Well done Kev!!

Under 9's Pontypridd 50 - 0 Ystrad Mynach

Try Scorers for Pontypridd: James Stallard (3), Dewi Morris, Greg Mogford, Jordan Powell, Ben Stephens, Miles Pring, Chris John and Drew Cummings.

Man of the match: Keiran Hughes

Under 10's Pontypridd 57 - 0 Ystrad Mynach

In a convincing win there were tries for Dillon Lewis (3), Matthew Logan (2), Connaugh Davies (2), Kyle James and Matt Austin.
Harry Walton and Kai Perry both kicked two conversions each, whilst Kyle James and Joshua Phillips kicked one each.
Man of the match was Connaugh Davies who scored his first tries for Pontypridd.

The under 10's went on to complete their sponsored conversions after the match. From five kicks each, the results were Matthew Logan (5), Kai Perry (5), Dillon Lewis (3), George Dalley (3), Harry Walton (3), Kyle James (3), Conner Jones (3), Joshua Phillips (2), Luke Harris (2), Morgan Rees (1).
Matt Austin, Connaugh Davies and Rory Ellis also took part, but found the slippery surface a major obstacle.

The under 12's game was called off due to the pitch being unplayable.
The coaches, players and parents wish a speedy recovery to our magical outside-half Dale Hughes who dislocated his shoulder in training and will be out of action for several weeks.