Close win, wasn't expecting a result there but got it and deserved.
Started well, got some good scored then just sat back which was a mistake.
Lineout was poor to start and moved to "ok" as the game went on, still an issue.
Scrum a little odd with their loosehead getting minced, also plenty of wheeling and always reset. They got a somewhat dubious try out of it.
Goal kicking sadly wasn't great despite no wind although whoever made the call on the last penalty to just belt it as far as possible - well done. Match winning decision to not try for the posts and just make sure it goes dead.
Good hard fought win for down there and hopefully a bit of confidence after last week. We can play and we can score. Good mental resilience in that we got a lead, lost it, didn't lose our heads and ground out a win despite that.
Merthyr wont be easy next week but its at home (if it plays).
Pontypridd
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String
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jadegoodiesfridge
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Re: Pontypridd
Sardis is never one of those places I relish going.But when you've been ,it's like wearing a badge of honour when you tell your mates "yes ,I was there." And yesterday,I was there again,and it was probably the coldest it has ever been. The cold never seemed to phase Ebbw though as we went out of the blocks at a rapid pace,and within five minutes we scored !!
The scoreboard kept ticking over nicely. as we approached half time.Sadly Evan forgot to bring his kicking boots with him,as 17-3 could quite easily had been 24-3,and who knows,game over.Ponty scored an underserved try on the stroke of half time,and amazingly were back in the game at 17-10.I don't know what happened to Ponty at half time,but this was a different eight to the one we bossed around for 40 minutes.They caused so many problems that the Ebbw eight were now being driven back at a rate of knots,even when Franco and Luke came on,the Ponty pack were dominant.
and from 17-3 up we were now 22-17 down.
But Ebbw are made of sterner stuff,with just seven minutes to go,a little tinkering of replacements and suddenly we were the dominant side again.Evan put one over,then Kieran came on and popped another over .23-22.Thank you very much.Great piece of tactical nous by I assume,Franco not to go for a 26-22,but instead instruct Kieran to kick the bloody ball over the dead ball line.Fantastic .
As alluded by the previous post,the line out wasn't good,mostly scruffy ball coming back,plus Evan Lloyd struggled with the kicks ( has to be said so too did Ben Burnell )which made me wonder what has happened to the lad Simonds ,who was outstanding at full back down Aberavon and good with the boot also.Could have done with him yesterday.
Young Ryan Davies was every bloody where ,but like all youngsters a bit too fearless on occasions for his own good.In the second half ,he made a great run out of defence and had a two on one on the half way line with Carrick.Sadly Ryan failed to pass,got tackled then got penalised for hanging on.Ponty penalty,that led to a try.Ryan's good,but a little raw as expected.He'll learn.
All in all ,good learning curve for the youngsters,and a good day out for the ( many ) Ebbw faithful.
The scoreboard kept ticking over nicely. as we approached half time.Sadly Evan forgot to bring his kicking boots with him,as 17-3 could quite easily had been 24-3,and who knows,game over.Ponty scored an underserved try on the stroke of half time,and amazingly were back in the game at 17-10.I don't know what happened to Ponty at half time,but this was a different eight to the one we bossed around for 40 minutes.They caused so many problems that the Ebbw eight were now being driven back at a rate of knots,even when Franco and Luke came on,the Ponty pack were dominant.
and from 17-3 up we were now 22-17 down.
But Ebbw are made of sterner stuff,with just seven minutes to go,a little tinkering of replacements and suddenly we were the dominant side again.Evan put one over,then Kieran came on and popped another over .23-22.Thank you very much.Great piece of tactical nous by I assume,Franco not to go for a 26-22,but instead instruct Kieran to kick the bloody ball over the dead ball line.Fantastic .
As alluded by the previous post,the line out wasn't good,mostly scruffy ball coming back,plus Evan Lloyd struggled with the kicks ( has to be said so too did Ben Burnell )which made me wonder what has happened to the lad Simonds ,who was outstanding at full back down Aberavon and good with the boot also.Could have done with him yesterday.
Young Ryan Davies was every bloody where ,but like all youngsters a bit too fearless on occasions for his own good.In the second half ,he made a great run out of defence and had a two on one on the half way line with Carrick.Sadly Ryan failed to pass,got tackled then got penalised for hanging on.Ponty penalty,that led to a try.Ryan's good,but a little raw as expected.He'll learn.
All in all ,good learning curve for the youngsters,and a good day out for the ( many ) Ebbw faithful.
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String
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Re: Pontypridd
We struggled to contain Matawalu early on and they started using him more and more as a crash ball centre. We clearly weren't comfortable with that and dedicated 2 tacklers to him which directly led to the gap for the try on half time.
That said later on we were clearly aware hes rushing up in defence leaving a gap and exploited that a few times so again, good coaching and someone is switched on.
Some odd formations from Ponty as well - Burnell spent as much time at full back as 10 throughout. Im always amused by his football style arm waving shouting and fall over for attention too. Never fails every game.
Ebbw sides a few seasons ago would have lost that game - said it before but we're a much tougher team mentally when things start to go against us. There's a real sense of confidence and desire.
That said later on we were clearly aware hes rushing up in defence leaving a gap and exploited that a few times so again, good coaching and someone is switched on.
Some odd formations from Ponty as well - Burnell spent as much time at full back as 10 throughout. Im always amused by his football style arm waving shouting and fall over for attention too. Never fails every game.
Ebbw sides a few seasons ago would have lost that game - said it before but we're a much tougher team mentally when things start to go against us. There's a real sense of confidence and desire.