Prem Review - 9th April

The Western Mail

BRIDGEND coach Chris Stephens hailed his team's performance as their best away display of the season, writes Richard Thomas.

"In fact it was not far away from being our best performance of the season,'' he added.

The Brewery Field club arrived at St Helen's with a side that saw five frontline players rested ahead of Sunday's Konica-Minolta Cup semi-final against Llanelli.

Swansea failed to take the opportunity, but to be fair Bridgend didn't let them.

While one or two players might have had cup glory on their minds the squad as a whole remained focussed on league matters.

"We could easily have been distracted by the cup, but there is such a good squad spirit here,'' said Stephens. "If there was any complacency it disappeared because the players revved each other up to perform at St Helen's.

"What this result means is that I have now been given some real selection headaches for Sunday.''

Bridgend were all at sea up front in the first half and could count themselves fairly fortunate to trail by 11-9 at the interval.

But Stephens addressed the problems in the scrum by bringing on props Gareth Alexander and Tom Snelgrove either side of half-time.

And Bridgend went on to score two tries - the first for veteran scrum-half Brendan Roach three minutes after the break.

Against the wind Bridgend kept the ball in hand, swept their way up field and Roach crossed for a score that sent his side on their way to their 14th win in 15 league and cup outings since November.

And centre Ryan Howells tied it up by scoring after Bridgend stole Swansea line-out ball.

Swansea		(11)14-21(9)		Bridgend	FT
Tries: Wills..				Tries: Howells Roach
				Cons: David
Pens: Richards 3				Pens: David 3

The home team were quick to impose themselves on the game, a combination of forward brawn and silky handling skills amongst the backs, taking them up to their opponents’ twenty-two. The ball was moved out wide with precision, flanker Rhys Shellard well up in support to claim a try, converted by outside half Dai Flanagan. Another home attack was launched from deep, instigated by a break from Richard Fussell, with Tom Riley in support to ship out a scoring pass to winger Darren Berry, the score again converted by Flanagan, with just six minutes gone on the clock.

Ponty remained the dominant force, maintaining their presence in the visitors’ twenty-two with some intense pressure. A series of drives, with O’Connor and McIntosh to the fore, culminated with scrum half Gareth Jones burrowing over for a close range try, once more converted by Flanagan. The home pack were scavenging for possession in the loose, making for one way traffic towards the Bedwas half. A rare foray by the visitors was soon repulsed, with Ponty setting off on another dynamic counter attack, led by a kick and chase by flanker Shellard. Normal service was now resumed, with Ponty pounding up to the visitors’ line, a close range charge from hooker Duane Goodfield registering yet another try, converted by Dai Flanagan.

Following an up and under clearance kick, Ponty once more burst upfield, a fine break by centre Dafydd Lockyer well supported, with winger Darren Berry cruising in for a try, again converted by the ever dependable Dai Flanagan. Bedwas now worked hard to lay claim to a share of possession, but with Ponty responding admirably to their defensive duties, and again breaking away on a counter attack at pace. Momentum was maintained, another dynamic back line move resulting in a try for full back Morgan Stoddart, with Flanagan keeping up his 100 % kicking record with the conversion. Ponty were still hitting a purple patch, showing supreme confidence in their support play, the ball worked out wide for winger Fussell to dart over for an excellent try, extending Ponty’s interval lead to a highly impressive 47 pts to 0.

A sharp break from scrum half Jones sent Ponty cruising into their opponents’ twenty-two, Dafydd Locker charging over the line, but the score disallowed for a knock on. The home team kept plugging away in attack, once more showing support skills of the highest order. A clever chip through from outside half Flanagan was followed up by Darren Berry, releasing centre Tom Riley for a touchdown, converted from a wide angle by Flanagan. With Geraint Liddon on in place of Gerald Cox, Ponty remained totally dominant, combining well to keep play up in the visitors’ half.

A spate of injury stoppages now took the sting out of the game, with Bedwas capitalising, making headway into home territory. The visitors continued to press forwards with an effective rolling maul, followed up with a break from full back Gittings. With the referee’s decisions generally in their favour, Bedwas were enjoying their best period of the game so far, with Ponty grafting hard in defence before turning over possession and setting off on a sublime counter offensive. From an attacking scrum, the home team set off on a brilliant passing move along the back line, full back Stoddart slicing through for a try.

Further substitutions saw Jason Pocock coming on for Richard Fussell and Jason Lewis for Dafydd Lockyer, as Ponty kept up their momentum, working good angles of attack and showing excellent support skills. Another spate of substitutions saw Chris Martenko coming on for Dale McIntosh, Richard Langmead for Morgan Stoddart and Ben Phillips for Gareth Jones. Ponty were striving hard to regain their momentum, a storming run by Ben Phillips on the wing giving them impetus over the gain line, winger Darren Berry on hand to claim another well worked try, converted by Flanagan. A snap offensive by Bedwas put winger Stefan Sankala in for a consolation try, before Lee Evans came off the bench in place of Rhys Shellard. The Ponty tide soon turned again, a home surge finished off with a try for Richard Langmead, rounding off an excellent day’s work, reflected in the final scoreline of 71 pts to 5.

Pontypridd:

15.Morgan Stoddart (Richard Langmead). 14.Darren Berry. 13.Tom Riley. 12.Dafydd Lockyer (Jason Lewis). 11.Richard Fussell (Jason Pocock). 10.Dai Flanagan. 9.Gareth Jones (Ben Phillips).

1.Stuart Williams. 2.Duane Goodfield. 3.Gerald Cox (Geraint Liddon). 4.Dale McIntosh – cpt (Chris Martenko). 6.Wayne O’Connor. 7.Rhys Shellard (Lee Evans). 8.Dan Godfrey.

Pontypridd		(47)71-5(0)		Bedwas	FT
Tries: Goodfield Fussel Berry 3 Riley Stoddart 2 Shellard Langmead				Tries: Sankala
Cons: Flanagan 8

Welsh Premiership April 11, 2005
		P	W	D	L	PTS
1	Neath	27	23	0	4	69
2	Newport	28	22	0	6	63
3	Bridgend	28	20	0	8	57
4	Llanelli	28	17	0	11	51
5	Cross Keys	28	17	0	11	51
6	Carmarthen	26	16	1	9	49
7	Swansea	28	15	2	11	47
8	Pontypridd	29	15	1	13	46
9	Cardiff	27	14	0	13	42
10	Aberavon	26	14	0	12	42
11	Bedwas	28	12	0	16	36
12	Ebbw Vale	28	13	0	15	36
13	Pontypool	29	11	1	17	34
14	Llandovery	28	10	0	18	30
15	Caerphilly	29	6	0	23	18
16	Llanharan	29	4	1	24	13
17	Newbridge	26	4	0	22	9