Spirited Ponty hold on to claim Bridgend scalp

BRIDGEND.................... 13 PONTYPRIDD............... 15

A HEAVY shower just before kick-off made conditions under foot slippery but did not stop the home side from advancing upfield with outside half Joe Scrivens putting an early penalty between the posts.

Midway through the half the visitors were dominating territory and possession but couldn’t turn their advantage into points as a combination of their own mistakes and a resolute Bridgend defence held them at bay.

The Valley Commandos finally levelled the scoreboard courtesy of a thirty metre Ceri Sweeney penalty with twenty-seven minutes gone.

Despite the rain pouring down Pontypridd were determined to play an expansive game and it paid off when centre Bradley Coombs crossed for a scrambled try at the side of the posts with outside half Sweeney converting, putting his team 3pts to 10 up at the interval.

With Ponty going straight on the attack from the restart and applying plenty of pressure Bridgend hooker Jordon Liney was sin binned for infringing. The visitors wasted no time in capitalising on their numerical advantage as no8 Owen Sheppeard crashed over from a line out close to the Ravens’ line.

The home side narrowed the gap soon after with another penalty from the boot of outside half Joe Scrivens.

Bridgend now started to build some pressure of their own and a speculative chip and chase resulted in a try for wing Tom O’Flaherty, converted by Scrivens, setting up a tense final ten minutes of play.

With Ponty again running out of numbers due to injuries they had to shift flanker Rhys Shellard to the wing for the closing stages, up against a late Bridgend rally.

Pontypridd secured possession with the clock on eighty minutes and when Ashleigh James ran the ball out of play the referee brought the match to an end. It had not been a classic encounter, but a spirited Pontypridd side running out as victors by 13pts to 15.