Narberth 13-16 Pontypridd – Match Report
Pontypridd gained an important four match points in the Welsh Premiership with a dramatic 16-13 win over Narberth at the Lewis Lloyd Ground.
Despite tries Joe Davies and George Thorrington, Narberth led midway through the second half, before two Jacob Symes penalties were the difference for the visitors against a resilient Otters side.
Ponty flew out of the blocks in the opening minute when centre Ioan Evans identified that the Narberth defence was narrow, he looped a pass to outside centre George Thorrington who ran out from his own 22. Thorrington passed to wing Joe Davies who beat multiple defenders out wide to score. The conversion from fly-half Jacob Symes drifted wide but the visitors had an early lead.
The hosts managed to string some phases together after conceding the early try with some encouraging play down the left side, but when the ball was worked back across to the right wing to fullback Lewellyn Jones, he dropped it to give the visitors a scrum.
With the Otters still looking to play with plenty of possession, some stern Ponty defence forced a box-kick which was charged down by lock Ieuan Davies before a kick from Symes forced the hosts deep into their 22 – the tricky bouncing ball forced a knock on by Narberth fly-half Osian Evans. But despite the attacking platform, a knock on from centre Thorrington off a first phase move saw the end of the attack.
With a penalty kick to the corner from Symes failing to find touch, a poor clearing kick from fullback Jones provided a chance for a Ponty attack, with a powerful rolling maul gaining another penalty which rumbled into the hosts’ 22. But after multiple forward carries the Narberth defence held out.
The Otters worked their way back up into Ponty territory and were playing with a penalty advantage, and there would have been a try for replacement Hedd Nicholas, but he was deemed to be standing in front of the cross-field kick from fly-half Evans.
Eventually the home side did cross for their first points of the afternoon through inside centre Harrison Griffiths when he broke through the Ponty defence with a hard line to score underneath the crossbar. The simple conversion from Evans gave his side the lead after 33 minutes.
A few minutes later a grubber kick from Ioan Evans took a deflection into touch which gave his team some field position, but the resulting lineout was spilled giving the hosts a chance to clear.
In the half’s final play, Narberth continued to press inside the Ponty 22, and despite the visitors pushing them backwards with some big collisions, Osian Evans dropped back into to the pocket and kicked a drop goal which pleased the home supporters as they went to the interval leading 10-5.
HALF TIME – Narberth 10-5 Pontypridd
Ponty were penalised for offside early in the second half and despite a break from centre Griffiths, referee Carwyn Sion went back to the original penalty award and Narberth pointed to the posts. Osian Evans struck it well but the attempt drifted wide.
The discipline from the visitors hadn’t improved during the second half and they gave another chance to the hosts inside the 22 following a penalty award, but Ponty held out with some solid defence to clear their lines.
A chance came for Pontypridd through a scrum inside the Narberth 22 after a break from Joe Davies and some sustained attacks, but Symes’ kick behind the defence went over the dead ball line.
Ponty had another spell in attack when Louis Rochefort-Shugar broke through midfield, the ball went wide to captain Cally James who passed to wing Davies but he was stopped short. But then the visitors exploited an overlap on the other side of the field and George Thorrington beat a defender to score.
A breakdown infringement from Narberth on replacement Lucus Welch gave Ponty an opportunity in the final quarter when Symes got his first points of the day with a well struck penalty to give his side the lead 13-10 after 67 minutes.
With the clock ticking into the final 10 minutes, Welch was penalised for offside, with replacement Jonathan Rogers levelling the scores with a long-distance penalty.
There were now only a few minutes left and Ponty were awarded another penalty after a lineout infringement, a kick from Ioan Evans put the visitors in a great position before the home side were pinged in the maul after a clean lineout take from Mitch Barnard.
Symes kicked his side in front with a second penalty following a deliberate knock on before some solid game management from replacement Lucus Welch gave his side territory, which was enough to win the game.
Following two away matches in the league, Ponty return to Sardis Road on Friday February 7th when they welcome Cross Keys in a rescheduled Welsh Premiership fixture with the game kicking off at 7:30pm.
FULL TIME – Narberth 13-16 Pontypridd (1/2/2025)
Match report – Iestyn Thomas
PONTYPRIDD –
15. Oli Shepherd. 14. Joe Davies. 13. George Thorrington. 12. Ioan Evans. 11. Louis Rochefort-Shugar. 10. Jacob Symes. 9. Joel Raikes (Lucus Welch).
1. Ben Stephens (Ben Drew). 2. Rob Jones (Jeff Young). 3. Garyn Daniel (Kian Mattravers). 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Ieuan Davies (Lloyd Riley). 6. Kristian Parker. 7. Cally James (c). 8. Joe Miles (Noah Davey).
Subs: 16. Jeff Young. 17. Ben Drew. 18. Kian Mattravers. 19. Lloyd Riley. 20. Noah Davey. 21. Lucus Welch. 22. Morgan Edwards. 23. Jude Williams.
Tries: Joe Davies, George Thorrington
Penalties: Jacob Symes x 2
NARBERTH –
15. Llew Jones. 14. Lewys Gibby. 13. Matthew John. 12. Harrison Griffiths. 11. Geraint Llewellyn. 10. Osian Evans. 9. Alex Williams.
1. Tom Kaijaks. 2. Tom Clarke. 3. Ryan Rees. 4. Will Blackburn. 5. Sam Martin. 6. Josh Hamer. 7. Tom Powell. 8. Caleb Salmon.
Subs: 16. Rob Evans. 17. Ricky Guest. 18. Guto Jones. 19. Rhys Williams. 20. Sam Davies. 21. Roy Osborn. 22. Jonathan Rogers. 23. Hedd Nicholas.
Try: Harrison Griffiths
Conversion: Osian Evans
Penalty: Jonathan Rogers
Drop Goal: Osian Evans
Referee: Carwyn Sion
Assistant Referee/Third Official: Jon Hardy
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