RISCA 35 – 0 PONTLLANFRAITHA disappointed bus returned to Pontllanfraith on Saturday night having their dreams of snatching a few league points from fellow basement dwellers Risca taken away. It wasn’t so much the matter of points being lost, but the manner in which it happened were that was disappointing.
Craig Coleman of Oakdale started in the loosehead position due to late arrival of Dan Welsh who got stuck in motorway traffic on the way back from a pop concert. Rhys Morris got his first start for the club at hooker and big Josh Falatu moved up from the second row to the tight head position. Justin Preece was due to start in the second row position but went down with injury in the warm up so Bleddyn Jones stepped up to join vocal captain Steve Reynolds. Hooker Nathan Meyrick moved into the back row with Phil Williams and talented number eight Vincent Welsh. The solid partnership of Pete Thomas and Chris Miles continued to fill the half back positions with player coach Wayne Grimsted and Martin Gregg selected at centre. Speedster Ryan Peplar returned to the wing after recovering from a knee injury to join Aaron Romanic with Andrew Deneen again starting at fullback.
Pont really needed to start this game positively and hoped to draw first blood. But the disruptions to the side just before kickoff were very apparent in the opening exchanges. The Risca backline spread the ball wide from the first scrum of the game which allowed space for the winger to go over in the corner for a fine try and ultimately give Pont the start they desperately needed to avoid. The Cuckoos managed to cross the white wash twice more in the first half to make the score at half time 22 – 0.
Pont settled their game in the second half and put together some good phases of play. The scrum improved with the introduction of Dan Welsh on the loose and Rob Protheroe returning to the tight head position after recovering from a knee injury. Risca only managed to cross Pont’s try line once in the second half by exploiting some defence weaknesses out wide. The game was drawn to a close with a 35-0 scoreline.
Dissatisfied coach Grimstead told the players to look hard at themselves in the mirror and see what they wanted to achieve this season. “It’s not going to be easy for us” he stated passionately “The honeymoon period is now over for some of us and we have to get on with the task of turning our fortunes around. It’s also time of our senior players to be more authoritative, we need more leaders on the field than followers. Now lets enjoy tonight and then get back up the training paddock to get ready for a royal Rhiwbina rumble.”
1) Craig Coleman
2) Rhys Morris
3) Josh Falatu
4) Steve Reynolds(Capt)
5) Bleddyn Jones
6) Nathan Meyrick
7) Phil Williams
8) Vince Welsh
9) Pete Thomas
10) Chris Miles
11) Aaron Romanic
12) Wayne Grimstead
13) Martin Gregg
14) Ryan Peplar
15) Andrew Deneen
16) Rob Protheroe
17) Dan Welsh
18) Carl Taylor
19) Tony Jayne
