Ponty Youth (seniors) clinch the title

On Saturday 10^th May Pontypridd Youth (seniors) hosted Glamorgan Wanderers in a "winner takes all" fixture in division two of the Youth League. With Ponty on 31 points and the Wanderers on 30 this game would determine both the league championship and promotion  for both sides. 

Ponty had crashed to a disappointing defeat last week away in Ely and knew that they needed to improve significantly if they were to take the honours. The early play of the game was dominated by defences, where neither side could break the other down, although some early driving line out's and mauls from the Ponty side suggested that their game plan might hold the key to the day.

Both sides demonstrated some impressive tackling, and although the game was exciting, neither side seemed to be able to gain the upper hand. The Wanderers were first to score, converting a simple penalty after Ponty had drifted offside. However rather than deflate Ponty, it seemed to instil in them the belief that if they kept driving through the forwards, eventually the Wanderers defence would crack.

The opening for Ponty came around five minutes from the end of the first half. Great lineout work from hooker Sam Oliver and Aaron Atkins, saw Ponty drive their lineout deep into the Wanderers half.  Quick hands then put no 8 Dean Maisey in at the corner for a try that went unconverted. 

Half time score: Pontypridd 5 - Wanderers 3. 

The second half saw Ponty  step up the pace, with the Wanderers pack struggling to cope with their powerful forward drives. After another impressive line out, Ponty again were able to drive through the heart of the Wanderers pack and great support running  put winger Hughes in for a try. Simm's conversion attempt looked good but only one linesman flagged that the kick went over, so the referee ruled that the kick was missed.

Ponty were quickly back on the attack and won two further penalties when the Wanderers were caught infringing in the tackle area. The first was hit narrowly wide, but Simms made no mistake with the second to take Ponty's lead to 13 -3. The Wanderers now started to fight back and poor Ponty discipline saw the Wanderers win a series of penalties that resulted in the pack crashing over in the corner for a well deserved try that went unconverted, and then adding another penalty to take the score to 13-11. 

Ponty were not to be denied though and fly-half Lewis Smith started to control the game, with the Wanderers conceding another penalty under their posts. This was a gift for a kicker of Simms’ standard and he stepped up to kick the final points of the game to seal a thrilling 16 - 11 win for Pontypridd. 

This was a magnificent achievement for Ponty who had been bottom of the league at the start of November and facing relegation, before staging a miraculous recovery winning 10 of their next 11 league fixtures to secure both the league title and - subject to WRU approval - promotion to division one of the National Youth leagues next season.

This is a real credit to all the players, who reformed a Pontypridd Youth side from the successful under 16's side from two seasons ago, and have now gone from competing in Division 9 to winning promotion to Division 1 in only two full seasons.