Pontypridd 24-11 Swansea

Expectations were high at Sardis Road as the top two teams in the Premiership went head to head, and Ponty defending  a near two season undefeated run on their own patch.

The game began in competitive mode, an early exchange of penalties between Gunter and Thomas levelling the scores. Ponty were maximising possession, showing glimpses of fine support skills to edge the contest, with centre Dafydd Lockyer spearheading their attacks.

Latching on to a loose ball and playing the referee’s advantage well, home scrum half Rhys Downes sprinted clear for a first touchdown, the score converted by Gunter. Ponty were by now the dominant force, hammering at the gain line, and putting together an excellent phase of support play for centre Gavin Dacey to cross for a try wide out, Gunter adding the wide angle conversion.

A late repost from Swansea saw full back Nicky Thomas breaking through for a try, but Ponty having looked good for their interval lead of 17pts to 8.

The All Whites came out of the blocks at pace following the break, the game ebbing and flowing before Thomas hoisted over a penalty for the visitors to narrow their deficit. Ponty were by now making costly errors and yielding turnovers, which Swansea were well capable of exploiting.

The game was being played at a high intensity, every scrap of possession ferociously contested, every tackle a big hit. Ponty left behind a mass brawl in their own half to break upfield, Dafydd Lockyer surging through for a crucial try which Gunter duly converted.

As Swansea tried hard to hit back, Ponty showed great resilience in defence, and then emerged to finish the game strongly with a big driving maul up to their opponents’ line.

Into injury time, Ponty drove hard at the visitors’ try line seeking a valuable bonus point, but settling for a hard earned straight win by 24pts to 11 following what had been an epic Premiership encounter in front of the TV cameras.

Pontypridd:

15.Matthew Nuthall. 14.Owen Williams. 13.Gavin Dacey. 12.Dafydd Lockyer (Lee Thorne). 11.Lewis Williams. 10.Dean Gunter. 9.Rhys Downes.

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

Scorers:

“Golden Bob” man of the match: Dafydd Lockyer