Ponty u 9s claim Brecon tournament title

Max Boyce waxes lyrical in one of his fabled stories, about the Millennium Stadium having a sliding roof which can be retracted ‘so God can watch us play!’ On Sunday 13^th April in Brecon, despite the prevalence of dark menacing clouds in all directions a patch of blue sky stubbornly refused to move from above Brecon’s rugby ground.

Whoever, or whatever was watching down no doubt enjoyed the entertainment as the heavy rainfall forecasted, thankfully, held at bay for the entire day.

Ponty U9’s returned to Brecon as defending champions, this team having won their age group last year, full of hope and expectations following a recent return to form which saw them sweeping aside all opposition in recent weeks.

The supporters, for once confident and jovial rather than nervous and apprehensive, which of course had absolutely nothing to do with the liquid refreshments provided on the coach trip up from Ponty!!

The tournament had 9 teams in this age group, split into two groups, and following a round robin, the top two of each group would move forward to the semi finals.

Ystradgynlais and Abercrave both played gamely and full of heart, but in truth both were comprehensively outplayed by a supremely confident Ponty team. The scoreline would suggest the supporters and coaches would be in raptures following the opening two games, however, the scoreline masked two of the worst performances Ponty have shown as a team for a number months.

The determination and passion was evident as always, if a little subdued, but the team had fallen foul of its Achilles heel of playing as individuals not a unit. Time and again some players would spurn the pass and a certain try in favour of personal glory, thinking, wrongly, because they could beat one player they could beat 2 or 3 or 4!

These two matches should have been perfect preparation to build the flowing, eloquent passing game Ponty has strived to develop all season, instead it saw the team take a very large backwards step.

Chris Temple was a shining light in this gloom, selflessly and intelligently spurning a possible half chance to make a well-timed pass which guaranteed the try was scored, alas, some of his teammates failed to follow his example.

The last pool game against Gwernyfed saw both sides through to the semi finals, the question left being which would top the group and which would be runners-up. Ponty had played and beaten Gwernyfed in this tournament last year, a fact they had seemed neither to have forgotten nor forgiven. In their team was a truly gifted player possessed of sparkling speed and skill, if a little fragile on temperament, who had again this tournament been scoring for fun, out sprinting all and every opposition in front of him.

Now the temperature began to rise, now some doubts appeared within the Ponty faithful as their team whilst winning had seemingly lost its pattern and cohesion.

The boys however rose to meet the challenge in their typical style, true the try line fever remained and true Gwernyfed ‘secret weapon’ scored a length of the pitch try, but Ponty were always in control, the intensity was raised another notch, the determination and passion could now be seen not just in their attacks but in the way they defended to a man, and at the final whistle it was their opponents who had a dejected and dismal air about them.

Ponty had made a point and scored a psychological as well as physical victory, which was to prove decisive later on!

Semi Final

Pontypridd 40 Llandovery 0

A number of weeks ago Ponty had played and beaten a team from Worcester and had learned in that game that playing a physically bigger side was possible if you could match their intensity and refuse to be physically intimidated.

More importantly the previous match had been hard fought and had re-awoken the players zest and determination not to take a backward step, preparation that was now to prove invaluable.

The final pool victory meant Ponty topped their group and had to play the runners-up from group 1, Llandovery, whose team included probably the biggest player in the tournament. He liked to make a ‘nuisance of himself’ at every available opportunity, and despite the protestations of certain spectators, this was not picked up on by either the referee or the coach. It was therefore down to the players to show their mettle, and each and every one stood their ground and demonstrated Ponty’s no nonsense, no backward step approach. Any attempt at physical intimidation and domination was thus soon repulsed in the most emphatic way possible, as again Ponty raised the intensity and ran out comfortable winners by 8 tries to 0.

Final

Pontypridd 30 Gwernyfed 0

The final saw Ponty take on Gwernyfed again, as they had beaten Abertillery in the second semi-final. The supporters fully expected another tough match, but had witnessed their Ponty side develop and grow with each passing game, raising their performance, building slowly, surely and inexorably to the final.

There were now no nerves from the Ponty faithful, there were only expectations.

The match saw Ponty dominate both possession and field position, encamped permanently in their opponents half, who to their credit tackled bravely and collectively to hold the onslaught at bay. It seemed to be only a matter of time though, and thus it proved, when the first try came, the belief and heart seemed to leave the Gwernyfed side, and though they continued to defend heroically they barely managed to escape their own 22 throughout the entire match.

The pressure from Ponty was totally remorseless, their control of the game absolute, and in the end when they went 6 tries to 0 up the match was ended early as dictated by the rules.

Another successful tournament for the team and for Callum ‘Tucker’ Hall who was deservedly voted player of the tournament. All the squad had played a full and integral part in the success, and it must be heartening for the coaches to realise that they have such a depth of talent to choose from.

The boys had played and won 5 matches scoring a total of 28 tries and only conceding 1, a remarkable performance, and one that deserves recognition of the squad rather than individual players, yet a special mention should go to, Iwan Cavill who worked tirelessly in defence and attack and had by far his best games of the season and Owen Lloyd, a newcomer to the squad and to rugby, who noticeably grew in confidence and stature with each passing game.

Next week Ponty travel to a tournament in Coventry, again as defending champions, where their performance as a ‘team’ will need to improve dramatically if their success is to be repeated!