JOSH WINS IT IN DYING MOMENTS
JOSH Phillips kept his nerve at the death to kick the conversion that provided Llanelli with a dramatic victory with the last kick of the game.
Wales U20 outside-half Josh Phillips kicked a second-minute penalty and then added a conversion of a great try on the left wing by Ben Raivaltia. That made it 10 points in four minutes and there were still more to come from the supercharged visitors.
Luca Giannini intercepted on halfway, ran deep into the home and then sent his back-row colleague Dan Davis speeding to the posts for another try that Phillips improved. That made it 17-0 with less than a quarter of an hour on the clock.
“We thought the game was done and dusted at that stage, but that’s never the case with us and we let Pontypridd back into the game. My heart was in my mouth at the end,” admitted Llanelli coach Paul Fisher.
“Josh is a very good player and has been in our system since U18. Today was a tribute to all the hard work he has put into his game and that last conversion enabled us to pick up our second win of the season.”
It was time for Ponty to get their act together and to cut out on their basic errors after they found themselves 17 points down.
They gradually found some cohesion and replaced hooker Nathan Huish with Ryan Spriggs to be more productive at the lineout.
The plan worked and two tries in the dying minutes of the half turned the game on its head. The first was a driving line-out try from 20 metres out that ended with blood replacement Daf Rotie bagging the score.
Then Fijian international Niko Matawalu injected some real pace into a back line move to create a tiny overlap for full-back Lloyd Rowlands to creep through to score in the left corner.
Three minutes after the restart, Matawalu created space for Rory Harries to run to the posts, but the home scrum-half veered into traffic instead. It didn’t matter because Tom Harper was on hand to pick up the ball and wrestle his way over from five metres out to give his side the lead for the first time.
Ponty picked up their bonuspoint try via sub Morgan Bosanko and Scrivens converted. It meant a 17-point deficit had been turned into a 12-point lead on 65 minutes.
But Llanelli’s late rally earned them the points as Nathan Hart drove over just after Jason Little had been sent to the sin-bin, and then Ben Williams scored with Ryan Spriggs also in the sin-bin for the home side.
Pontypridd – Tries: D Rotie, L Rowlands, T Harper, M Bosanko. Cons: J Scrivens (3). Pen J Scrivens.
Llanelli – Tries: B Raivaltia, D Davis, N Hart, B Williams. Cons: J Phillips (4). Pen: J Phillips.