Match Review: Leeds 19 Pontypridd 19

Wrong Direction.....
By RtR
December 16 2002

It was a cold misty day in Leeds, and I still haven't got any Christmas shopping in. Nevermind, Mrs The-Rhino's annual bottle of perfume would have to wait, there was rugby to watch.

The Tykes went into the second leg of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup 14 points down, and were facing a Ponty side that are currently one of the strongest in Wales. Ponty had also bought their 16th man with them in the shape of their passionate and vociferous support. Headingley was filled with the sound of Welsh voices raised in song long before the kick off. To the Ponty boys on the park, it must have sounded like Sardis Road on the road. The seven coach loads they brought with them sounded more like 700 – these guys like their rugby, and make themselves heard all right.

A paltry 2000 turned out for the game, a good proportion of which were Ponty fans. There could be many reasons, but the attendance was very poor. But if you were to think that this would mean a lack of atmosphere, you’d be wrong, especially after the game got off to a barnstorming start.

The Tykes were well up for the fight, and from the kick off, they tore into Ponty. Fist fights broke out within the first few minutes of the game, temperatures were raised both on field and off, as the banter started in the South Stand. The Tykes were soon ahead, BVS slotting a simple penalty, and then repeating the act with a thunderball from his own half. Then the Tykes won lineout ball on the Ponty 22, and Alan Dickens bounced off several tacklers to score a superb try, reminiscent of Matt Dawson at his feisty best. 7 minutes into the game, and the Tykes had reduced the aggregate deficit to 1 point. Ponty hadn’t even been out of their own half.

It was then that a pattern started to emerge in the game. Ponty have a fearsome front 5, and they came out with a simple game plan (which they stuck to admirably) – keep it tight in the forwards, and then release it to the half backs to fire up plenty of high balls. It was stodgy, but extremely effective stuff, and as the Tykes started to come under pressure, Brett Davey scored 3 unanswered penalties to put Ponty back in touch.

As the first half wore on, the Tykes started to struggle in the set piece. The lineout was misfiring, and what ball we did win was often scrappy and poorly controlled – the Tykes couldn’t master the greasy conditions where Ponty had no problems. We were also starting to suffer in the scrums. Ponty have got a devastating scrum, and as the game went on, they started to shunt the Tykes pack round at will. Gavin Kerr was operating at Loosehead, and Matt Holt was having problems with Duncan Bell. In such situations, it is essential to get a quick strike and ball out ASAP, something which we failed to do.

Temperatures were still running high on the pitch, with Stewart Campbell and Gethin Jenkins sent to the bin for fighting. Ponty had fought their way back, but hadn’t been into the Tykes 22.

Half Time Tykes 13 Ponty 9.

As the second half got under way, the Tykes front five really began to feel the pressure in the scrums. The Tykes faithful were claiming the Ponty were shoving before the put in, but truth be told, Ponty had a massive advantage in the scrums all day.

The game was decided by two events halfway through a second half that was reaching a stalemate. Firstly the Tykes secured lineout ball, Kerr emerged with the ball and set off on a barrelling 30m run to the line. The Ponty defence withered before him, and he was held up just short of the line. From the resulting scrum 5, the Ponty pack shoved us off our own ball, we conceded a penalty, and Ponty cleared. An opportunity was lost, and we never really recovered.

The second event was the substitution of fly half Sweeny for the Welsh Wingnut himself, Neil Jenkins. ‘Fruit Bat’ was given a warm Headingley welcome by Jimmy Ponton in the shape of a monster wipeout tackle, but Jenkins was to dictate play for the rest of the game, pushing the Tykes back into their own 22 repeatedly as the Tykes chased for further scores. Jenkins is a canny footballer, and got the better of the kicking dual with Ross and Scabs.

Meantime BVS kicked two, but also missed two difficult but gettable penalties, and time was running out. O’Keefe, Hogg and Regan came on and the scrum performed much better, but Matt Holt was sin binned for the second week running for scrummaging offenses.

The final score of the game came from another Ponty up and under, this time from Brett Davey. Ross was back covering, but this kick was Himalayan in height, and Ross lost it in the gloom. Davey followed up his kick as Ross let it bounce, to score the decisive try of the fixture, which he converted himself to give Ponty the tie, scoring all their points himself. The Ponty fans went wild, and there was no way back for the Tykes.

So it was a disapointing end to a game that promised so much early on, but on cold wet days, games are not often won with sparkling back play, but through dominance in the front 5. The Ponty pack is as good as Headingley will see all year, and they will be a difficult side to beat as they go forward in the competition.

As for the Tykes, there is still plenty of work to do in the set pieces, and the backs still need to start gelling. But even under such pressure in the front 5, we still led for most of the game and never gave up. The rolling maul worked well, Zac was outstanding, as was Dickens, but Ross was very inconsistent, and we badly need the return of George Harder to gain us the hard yards in midfield. But congratulations to Ponty, worthy winners, and a good bet for the cup.