Pontypridd 52-23 Narberth – Match Report
Pontypridd made it four wins from four in the 2024/25 season with a bonus point win at Sardis Road against Narberth.
The hosts scored eight tries, with captain Cally James scoring twice, five of the Ponty scores came in the second half where they took control of the contest.
Ponty opened the scoring in the first couple of minutes following an early lineout and following several phases, second row Mitch Barnard beat a couple of defenders before grounding the ball. The conversion from fly-half Jacob Symes struck the post.
There was an immediate response from the visitors who levelled the scores after six minutes when the hosts’ defence was caught too narrow, that allowed a cross-field kick from Otters’ fly-half Osian Evans which landed kindly for wing Llew Jones, who’s inside pass bounced to scrum-half Lewys Gibby.
Narberth took the lead after 13 minutes through their rolling-maul, with hooker Kyle Hamer peeling off the maul to score. Inside-centre Jonathan Rogers kicked the conversion to give his side a 12-5 lead.
Rogers added a penalty a couple of minutes later after Dale Stuckey was penalised for an extra roll after the tackle was completed.
Ponty’s response was positive and saw them cross for a second score when inside-centre Garyn Smith broke down the wing before offloading to blindside flanker Cai James who ran in from the 22-metre line. Jacob Symes added the extras, but Ponty still trailed 15 points to 12.
Centre Rodgers kicked his and Narberth’s second penalty to extend their lead to six points, 18-12 as the match approached the half hour mark.
After some defensive work inside their own 22, a penalty gave Ponty a chance to attack before the interval. A break from captain Cally James gave the hosts the platform inside Narberth’s 22. Then some patient work from the Ponty pack close to the Otters’ tryline eventually broke the opposition’s resolve when captain James crossed from short-range. Symes’ second conversion gave his side a one-point lead at the interval, the hosts led 19-18 at halftime.
HALF TIME – Pontypridd 19-18 Narberth
Ponty made a good start to the second half and prop Ben Drew made an early break in the opening stages of the second period when he busted through a tackle in midfield.
The bonus point was wrapped up for the hosts in the 47th minute when Ponty got the ball out wide to wing Louis Rochefort-Shugar who kicked ahead for himself before regathering to score. Jacob Symes added another conversion to give his side an eight point lead.
Captain Cally James picked up his second try of the afternoon after a break from replacement hooker Jeff Young – Young went on a superb run into Narberth’s half and he found James who was on his shoulder to finish. Symes’ conversion then extended Ponty’s lead to 33-18.
A rampant Ponty were in full flow in the 54th minute with their third try of the half after capitalising on a Narberth error in the lineout, Ponty broke through Garyn Smith who linked up well with Stuart Floyd-Ellis and replacement Sam Talbot. With outside-centre Floyd-Ellis being stopped a few meters short, the hosts scored on the next phase when no.8 Joe Miles powered over.
On the hour mark replacement scrum-half Lucus Welch grabbed a try when he broke through a disorganised Narberth defence after a quickly taken penalty from Stuckey.
Narberth did get themselves a late consolation following some late pressure, and scored a third try when a cross-field kick was gathered by Jac Evans who offloaded well to his scrum-half Gibby who crossed for his second.
Pontypridd had the final say when fullback Stuckey brought up the half century of points for the hosts from the restart – he gathered the kick-off from replacement Jaydan Pugh to score in the left hand corner. Pugh then added the conversion from the touchline to cap off a fine win for the Valley Commandos.
Pontypridd head to Cardiff Met next weekend looking for a fifth consecutive win to start their Admiral Welsh Premiership season.
FULL TIME – Pontypridd 52-23 Narberth (12/10/2024)
Match report – Iestyn Thomas
PONTYPRIDD –
15. Dale Stuckey. 14. Charlie Morgan-Stephens (Sam Talbot). 13. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 12. Garyn Smith. 11. Louis Rochefort-Shugar. 10. Jacob Symes (Jaydan Pugh). 9. Joel Raikes (Lucus Welch).
1. Ben Drew (Dan Cotterell). 2. Dylan Kelly (Jeff Young). 3. Morgan Bosanko (Kian Mattravers). 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Kristian Parker (Will Jameson). 6. Cai James. 7. Cally James (c) (Lloyd Riley). 8. Joe Miles.
Subs: 16. Jeff Young. 17. Dan Cotterell. 18. Kian Mattravers. 19. Will Jameson. 20. Lloyd Riley. 21. Lucus Welch. 22. Jaydan Pugh. 23. Sam Talbot.
Tries: Mitch Barnard, Cai James, Cally James x 2, Louis Rochefort-Shugar, Joe Miles, Lucus Welch, Dale Stuckey
Conversions: Jacob Symes x 5, Jaydan Pugh
NARBERTH –
15. Ashley Sutton. 14. Llew Jones. 13. Hedd Nicholas. 12. Jonathan Rogers. 11. Jac Evans. 10. Osian Evans. 9. Lewys Gibby.
1. Bradley Davies. 2. Kyle Hamer. 3. Guto Jones. 4. Sam Martin. 5. Rhys Williams. 6. Caleb Salmon. 7. Tom Powell. 8. Roy Osborne.
Subs: 16. George Rossiter. 17. Lewis Jones. 18. Ryan Rees. 19. Sam Davies. 20. Josh Hamer. 21. Alex Williams. 22. Matthew John. 23. Harry Fuller.
Tries: Lewys Gibby x 2, Kyle Hamer
Conversion: Jonathan Rogers
Penalties: Jonathan Rogers x 2
Referee: Nathan James
Assistant Referee/Third Official: Simon Harris
Golden Bob Man of the Match: Joe Miles
The post Pontypridd 52-23 Narberth – Match Report appeared first on Pontypridd-RFC.