Spirited Llanelli push Ponty all the way – but fall just short

PONTYPRIDD were forced to withstand a ferocious comeback from Llanelli at Sardis Road before claiming a 19-13 win to move up to fifth in the Premiership table.

Justin Burnell’s side were cruising with half-an-hour to go having held their visitors scoreless and bagged 13 points.

Then came the fightback from the visitors, who came close to claiming a significant victory.

It took outstanding defence from Pontypridd on their own line to keep the West Walians at bay.

And it was a mightily relieved Ponty coaching team as the final whistle blew.

It took Pontypridd just three minutes to open the scoring. The try started with a cross-kick from Ceri Morris which was gathered by Jac Davies, who offloaded to Sion Parry for the score.

Jake Lloyd improved the lead with the conversion before adding a penalty.

Llanelli were struggling to halt Pontypridd’s momentum at this stage and Lloyd added another penalty to allow them to turn around with a 13-0 lead.

It was off the back of a dominant scrum that Llanelli narrowed the gap when No. 8 Luca Giannini powered over from close range to kick-start their revival.

Josh Phillips added the extras and then kicked a penalty to cut the gap to three points.

A further two penalties from Lloyd extended Pontypridd’s lead before three points from the boot of Taliesin Rees brought Llanelli back to within a score and set up an exciting final few minutes.

Paul Fisher’s side lay siege to the Ponty line in the dying stages, but the home defence held firm and they somehow managed to keep out the red tide that threatened to engulf them.

PONTYPRIDD  Try: S Parry; Con: J Lloyd; Pens: J Lloyd (4).

LLANELLI  Try: L Giannini; Con: J Phillips; Pens; J Phillips, T Rees.