BRYNITHEL 43 – 9 PONTLLANFRAITHThe boys from the “Fraith” couldn’t get the start they wanted at Brynithel Saturday and come away with plenty to work on. The Boys in Blue wanted capitalise on last seasons finale by winning against the same opposition twice in a row.
The new look Pont side consisted of Rob Protheroe, Nathan Meyrick and Dan Welsh in the front with Justin Preece and crowd favourite Lee Fortey in the blow. Vince Welsh and captain Bleddyn Jones played open and blind respectively with Number 8 rookie Dan Brimble winning his first cap completing the pack. Aaron farmer was joined by another scrum half Andrew Deneen in the half back partership after Gareth Evans pulled up with with calf strain in the warm up (at least we know now). Vice captain Lee butcher was partnered by Gavin Lynch in the centre and the back three were made up of nifty new winger, young Lewis Young, bruising Aaron Romanic and the dependable fullback Chris Miles.
As the 2009/10 season got under way Pont were in disarray. A number of penalties and failure to grasp the new rules put them 9 – 0 down within the first 10 minutes. The Brynithel outside half not once failing to find the posts. Pont made a number of errors during the match that cost them dearly. Brynithel played to their strengths and crossed the try line in all four quarters of the match. They turned over a lot of ball at ruck time and showed up weaknesses in the Blue defence.
There were however many positives to be taken from this, the first game of the new season. In the forwards the scrum and lineout functioned well as did the big ball carrying back row players Dan Brimble and Vince Welsh. Lee Fortey made an exceptional comeback to the second row after an extended rest period. In the backs winger Aaron Romanic showed just how far he progressed in only his second season with some powerful running whilst young Lewis Young on the displayed some sizzling breaks. Chris Mile has obviously put in the work over the summer on his goal kicking by landing three goals.
With no pre season friendlies under their belts, and a host of new players it was always going to be a tough away encounter. The boys now take all the mistakes back to training and build on them and will look forward to showing whats been achieved in the first home game of the season against Blaenavon on Saturday.
1) Dan Welsh
2) Nathan Meyrick
3) Rob Protheroe
4) Lee Fortey
5) Justin Preece
6) Bleddyn Jones
7) Vince Welsh
8) Dan Brimble
9) Aaron Farmer
10) Andrew Deneen
11) Lewis Young
12) Lee Butcher
13) Gavin Lynch
14) Aaron Romanic
15) Chris Miles
16) Ashley Cockerill
17) Craig Coyle
18) Richard Parker
Pens – Chris Miles (3)
MOM Forwards – Lee Fortey
MOM Backs – Aaron Romanic
Yellow Cards – Nathan Meyrick
