Pontypridd 34-33 Neath – Match Report
Pontypridd moved to second place in the Welsh Premiership table following a dramatic 34-33 win over Neath at Sardis Road.
A hat-trick of tries from Joe Miles was accompanied with scores from Stuart Floyd-Ellis and a penalty try in a highly entertaining encounter meaning the Valley Commandos complete a league double over the Welsh All Blacks.
It was an exciting opening for Ponty and in the first minute fly-half Jaydan Pugh chipped ahead for himself which he regathered and broke into the Neath 22, the resulting phase saw the ball head wide to wing Iwan Griffith who was bundled into touch from the covering tackles by the visitors.
The away side briefly cleared their lines only for Ponty to respond with a second chip and chase, this time from outside centre Stuart Floyd-Ellis out wide. His chip didn’t bounce kindly for the Neath defender covering back and a tackle from wing Louis Rochefort-Shugar saw him spill the ball and the centre had the simple job of grounding the ball for the first points of the night.
It was a good response from the visitors who strung some territory and possession together before being awarded a penalty after Joel Raikes was penalised for offside, which enabled the Welsh All Blacks to kick to the corner.
After a few more penalties conceded by the hosts, referee Marcus Caudle had a word with Ponty captain Cally James over his side’s discipline.
Neath kicked into the corner and set up a rolling maul with hooker Josh Clark peeling out of the maul to score underneath the crossbar, leaving the simple conversion for his fly-half Steff Williams to give his side the lead after 12 minutes.
The visitors struck for a second time a few moments later with a neat first phase move from a scrum inside their own 22. A Steff Williams cross-field kick was perfect for wing Rhodri Wall who passed inside to centre Jon Bayliss who evaded the tackle of his opposite man and rode the tackle of Rochefort-Shugar to score in the corner. Steff Williams’ conversion extended the away side’s lead to 14-5.
Ponty replied with a penalty when Neath were penalised for not rolling away, leaving Jaydan Pugh a relatively simple kick which he converted to narrow the scores to six points after 20 minutes.
Ponty then gave away a penalty after a breakdown infringement, which allowed the away side to kick to the corner – this resulted in a second try for hooker Clark who was on the receiving end of another powerful rolling maul.
Inaccuracies were creeping into Ponty’s game after an opportunity with a lineout inside the 22 only for the throw to be not straight.
The resulting scrum saw the hosts being awarded a penalty, giving Ponty another chance through a tap and go and number 8 Joe Miles did cross the tryline a couple of minutes later but was deemed to have made a double movement when carrying, which resulted in the score being disallowed.
The away side were reduced to 14 players when openside flanker Gethin Tremlett was penalised for not releasing the tackler after his side were also given a warning over their discipline earlier in the half.
Ponty struck with the player advantage through a rolling maul of their own which was stopped short of the tryline, before a carry from number 8 Miles saw him cross the line legally for his side’s second try of the night. Jaydan Pugh’s conversion narrowed the scores to four points after 34 minutes of play.
The hosts had a chance to take the lead before the interval with another kick to the corner following a penalty. Again they put the maul to good use and they crossed with this effort with Miles again benefitting as he crashed over for his second try.
Ponty held on for the final minute of the half with Pugh kicking the ball out to end the first forty, with the hosts leading 20-19 in a highly entertaining encounter.
HALF TIME – Pontypridd 20-19 Neath
The second half began with both teams making errors with Floyd-Ellis’ pass in midfield being read brilliantly by opposing wing Morgan Meaclem, but he didn’t have the pace to finish and was chased by captain Cally James and lock Kristian Parker prevented the winger from scoring when a dropped ball saw the hosts clear.
The Valley Commandos went down the other end of the field and wrapped up the four-try bonus point through another rolling maul, this one resulting in a penalty-try after the visitors collapsed the maul and lock Jon Barley being shown a yellow card.
Despite being reduced to 14 players for a second time, Neath tried to turn pressure into points with a couple of penalties inside the Ponty 22 before the home side’s scrum half Joel Raikes was shown a yellow card to bring a level playing field in terms of numbers.
Eventually the visitors crossed after some sustained pressure when they exposed an overlap with a looping pass which saw fullback Iestyn Morgan cross unopposed. Steff Williams’ conversion narrowed it to a one point game.
The visitors were winning the kicking battle as wing Iwan Griffith struggled to gather a couple of bouncing balls, before a clearing kick from fly-half Pugh was charged down by a Neath forward who spilt the ball backwards into the path of Ben Williams who dived over to score and give his side the lead in the process. Steff Williams’ conversion made it 33-27 to Neath with just over an hour played.
Ponty reverted back to the rolling maul and five minutes later Joe Miles picked up a hat-trick of tries on the night off the back of a powerful effort from the pack. The try was scored right on the left-hand touchline and was was backed up by an excellent conversion from Pugh to give his side the lead with just under 15 minutes left to play.
Possession and territory swung back and forth in a highly dramatic final 10 minutes, with more Ponty inaccuracies in kicking and the lineout gifting Neath chances to win the game.
The visitors attempted a drop-goal after Ponty almost won a crucial turnover, but thankfully for the home crowd Steff Williams’ kick went wide.
Ponty cleared their lines from the 22 drop out but there was still time for an attack from the visitors, but they were halted by a solid home side defence in the final play which saw Pontypridd win a thrilling game by 34 points to 33.
Pontypridd will head to Bargoed Park to play Bargoed in their final match of the Welsh Premiership season on Saturday 10th May.
FULL TIME – Pontypridd 34-33 Neath (30/4/2025)
Match report – Iestyn Thomas
PONTYPRIDD –
15. Dale Stuckey. 14. Iwan Griffith (Sam Talbot). 13. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 12. Garyn Smith. 11. Louis Rochefort-Shugar. 10. Jaydan Pugh. 9. Joel Raikes (Joey Williams).
1. Ben Drew (Kian Mattravers). 2. Rob Jones (Jeff Young). 3. Garyn Daniel (Morgan Bosanko). 4. Mitch Barnard (Lloyd Riley). 5. Kristian Parker. 6. Will Jameson. 7. Cally James (c). 8. Joe Miles.
Subs: 16. Jeffrey Young. 17. Kian Mattravers. 18. Morgan Bosanko. 19. Lloyd Riley. 20. Ethan Evans. 21. Joey Williams. 22. Jacob Symes. 23. Sam Talbot.
Tries: Stuart Floyd-Ellis, Joe Miles x 3, Penalty-try
Conversions: Jaydan Pugh x 2
Penalty: Jaydan Pugh
Yellow Card: Joel Raikes
NEATH –
15. Iestyn Morgan. 14. Rhodri Wall. 13. Jon Bayliss. 12. Sean Wilcox. 11. Morgan Meaclem. 10. Steff Williams. 9. Rhodri Cole.
1. Mason Morgan. 2. Josh Clark. 3. Elis Hopkins. 4. Jon Barley. 5. Matthew Davies. 6. Jacob Blackmore. 7. Gethin Tremlett. 8. Ben Williams (c).
Subs: 16. Kian Jones. 17. Rhys Taylor. 18. Ben Uphill. 19. Morgan Kneath. 20. Casey Williams. 21. Ellis Lewis. 22. Ki Morgan. 23. Matthew Jenkins.
Tries: Josh Clark x 2, Jon Bayliss, Iestyn Morgan, Ben Williams
Conversions: Steff Williams x 4
Yellow Cards: Gethin Tremlett, Jon Barley
Referee: Marcus Caudle
Assistant Referee/Third Official: Chris Lewis
Golden Bob Man of the Match: Will Jameson
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