Division Three South West

Pontycymmer 10 Ystalyfera 30

DESPITE a forecast of heavy rain, the day turned out fine with a slight breeze at Lawrence Park for the opening day of the season and both sides began with a series of probing kicks.

Ystalyfera settled first with a couple of tidy line-outs, leading to a series of scrums behind the Pontycymmer 22 where an early yellow card saw home side flanker Harris penalised for stopping a quickly taken penalty.

However, Fera failed to make the most of the opportunity as outside-half and player/coach Gareth James missed the 12-metre kick.

In the 24th minute a defensive kick up the field by Pontycymmer was fielded well by the away team winger Stephen Myers, who set the ball up well for the onrushing pack to work into the hands of the Fera captain Paul Davies to claim the club’s first try of the season.

The conversion attempt was missed and after a surge into the Ystalyfera half from the kick-off Cymmer were able to charge-down full-back Liam Garland’s attempted clearance kick to claim the equalising score through No8 Hosey.

The game ebbed from end to end and on 29 minutes James put Ystalyfera ahead with a penalty

In their desperation to reduce the arrears, Pontycymmer became over eager and in the 35th minute a second yellow card was administered for persistent offside.

With Ystalyfera now in control of the set-pieces, a series of scrums saw No8 Andy Llewellyn break free to score the second Fera try of the afternoon. James missed the conversion and a penalty shot also went awry soon after.

A midfield break then earned Fera another penalty for offside and the Cymmer cause was not helped when back-chat saw the visitors gain another ten yards. James made no mistake and his kick saw the visitors enjoy a 16-5 half-time lead.

Fera pressed again after the interval and Rhys Morgan extended the lead with a touchdown under the posts. James converted.

An injury to Fera scrum-half Bradley Williams saw the introduction of Tom Barry, but his immediate impact was to hand a penalty to the hosts for retaliation, but the chance went begging.

A series of substitutions for both sides disrupted the flow as the game descended into a scrappy affair and a 70th minute altercation saw Barry and Pontycymmer flanker Silverthorne sent to the bin. Fera captain Paul Davies soon followed.

There was still time for a little rugby however and on 76 minutes, some fine handling movements by Ystalyfera and a midfield break from Ashley Carter saw his fellow centre Ceri Wyn Myers burst through for the try of the game.

James converted to extend the Fera lead to 30-5 before winger Hitchings claimed a last minute consolation try for the hosts.