DIVISION THREE EAST CENTRAL A
PENTYRCH .................. 19 PONTYCLUN ............... 25
PONTYCLUN ended the season on a high with this hard earned and hard fought win against local rivals Pentyrch RFC.
With the promotion places going the way of Abercwmboi and Taffs Well, this was a battle for third and fourth places in the division. Going into the game, the Badgers sported a one-point lead over their rivals, so any result other than defeat would see them grab third spot.
The home side started brightly on a beautiful May afternoon but were stunned by two spectacular Pontyclun breakaway tries within a minute of each other, after around 10 minutes or so of action. Firstly, flanker Jordan Christopher, burst from amid a ruck of players contesting the ball on the Pontyclun 10 metre line. He displayed an incredible burst of pace to leave four or five Pentyrch defenders trailing in his wake and sprinted 60 metres to cross under the posts, giving Nicky Theaker an easy conversion. Almost immediately it was Pontyclun’s outstanding No 9 Theaker, who upstaged Christopher with an even better effort. After grabbing hold of the ball, again on his own 10 metre line, he dodged and ducked his way past six or seven Pentyrch defenders, audaciously dummying the final two and crossed for one of the tries of the season. Theaker struck the post with the conversion but Pontyclun led by 12 points.
Pentyrch though, showed why they have enjoyed a good season and severely tested the Pontyclun defensive line. Their pacy backline probed for weaknesses but some heavy hitting tackles, one in particular made by Lloyd Rose, thwarted their attempts to break through. Then Pontyclun stretched their lead after captain Luke Rose led a charge down field which ended with a grubber kick into touch by Adam Lewis, deep inside the Pentyrch 22 metre area. The Badgers spilled the first chance that was presented to them when they dropped the ball in sight of the line but they were not to be denied and Theaker crossed for his second try after forcing his way over from close in. Pontyclun’s talisman slotted the conversion to stretch the lead to 19 points.
The home side though showed their mettle and stunned the Badgers with two converted tries leading up to the break. Firstly David Ince smashed his way through in midfield to cross near to the posts and minutes later, Ethan Denty crossed, aided by a missed tackle by a Pontyclun defender. Hywel Chatham booted over both conversions and Pontyclun’s lead was down to five points. The players enjoyed a much needed break from the searing heat during halftime which gave coaches Jason Lewis and Ieuan Dobbs an opportunity to rally their charges.
However, it was the home side that started the half on the front foot and Denty snatched his second and Pentyrch’s third try when he crossed wide out on the right. Chatham missed the conversion from a difficult spot but the scores were level. Pentyrch, with their tails up, battered away at the Badgers defence; but all season the defensive tackling has been of the highest order and they withstood everything that Pentyrch threw at them. Props Court and Bosanko, hooker Barclay and the youthful locks Morgan Rose and Ioan Davies were immense. Christopher was his usual all-action self, Kieron Williams defied his youthful age and the whole entourage was marshalled by the sublime Lloyd Rose, who surely would be in the Pontyclun RFC “hall of fame” – should they ever have one! Pontyclun made some changes, replacing the youngest of the Rose brothers together with Sam Barclay, these being replaced by Josh Cowles and Ryan Williams. However a turning point came late on when Nicky Theaker was forced off with a nasty shoulder injury, allowing Rory Woodland to enter the fray.
With 10 minutes or so remaining, Pontyclun were awarded a penalty approximately 30 metres out and despite only being on the field for a short period of time, Woodland stepped up and smashed it between the posts. Further pressure came from Pentyrch and they came very close to snatching the lead but another penalty award, this time from a long way out, saw another excellent kick from Woodland sail between the posts. What was quite amazing is that this was Woodland’s first game for a considerable amount of time!
That meant Pentyrch trailed by six points and needed a converted try to win. The Badgers denied them that opportunity and the game ended when Lloyd Rose, after getting the nod from the referee that time was up, sprinted over his own dead ball line to bring the curtain down on the season. Thus Pontyclun reversed the home defeat by the “Tyrchs” and stretched their winning run to 11 matches, scoring 424 points in the process at an incredible average of 38.5 points per game.
They secured third spot, just missing out on promotion by a mere five points. They defeated promoted Taffs Well twice but were undone by a string of six defeats either side of Christmas.
The losses at Treharris and Gwernyfed and the last-minute home defeat against Fairwater were crucial ones and in the end proved telling. However many positives came from the season, particularly the displays of young Ioan Davies, who is surely going to be a future star. Morgan Bosanko enjoyed a superb season, as did Jordan Christopher and indeed most members of the pack. Gareth Hooke stepped up from the second string and put in some great displays. Lloyd Rose defied his advancing years and proved a great example to those who follow. Jo Williams was Mr Consistency, flitting between outside half and centre and Rhys Morgan showed what a talent he is, when available. John Mathews filled in and never let the side down and a gem was unearthed on the wing with youngster Sam “twinkle toes” Davies enjoying a fine first season of senior rugby. Then, how does one attempt to describe the impact of Nicky Theaker? The Pontyclun scrum half provided a massive contribution, not only with his individual performances but with his huge points total accrued from countless tries, conversions and penalties.
The side were well marshalled by the skipper, Luke Rose and under his leadership, the disciplinary record saw a marked improvement on previous seasons with only a handful of yellow cards brandished over a nine-month period. The squad can now enjoy a rest until pre-season starts in July.
The coaches will look to add a few new recruits to bolster numbers and will look for an improvement on the number of players attending training.