Cardiff RFC delivered a commanding 52-20 victory over Pontypool RFC in emphatic fashion at a sun-drenched Pontypool Park.
Captain Craig Hudd, Matty Young, and Ioan Emanuel all claimed braces whilst Ethan Lloyd and Osian Darwin-Lewis also scored to secure the Blue and Blacks a comprehensive first victory in Pontypool since October 2009.
Speaking after the encounter, head coach Dan Fish said: “In patches of that game we were excellent, it’s important for us now to put that game for 80 minutes.
“Like I said, coming to Pontypool, to score 52 points and come away with a big six points is massive, especially this time of the season.
“It just shows that Tuesday and Thursday (training sessions) led into today, and I thought the boys were outstanding.”
Story of the Game
On a day not too dissimilar to the Blue and Blacks’ pre-season encounter against St Albans when the sun shone warmly, Harri Wilde got proceedings underway at Pontypool Park.
Both sides started the contest brightly, with a lot of back-and-forth action. The main highlight of the opening exchanges was a charge-down inside the visitors’ 22 by Scott Matthews, but the theme of the afternoon for Pooler was that they were unable to capitalise.
Then, after a powerful run by Tom Williams just outside of the Blue and Blacks’ 22, the inside-centre was soon replaced by Jason Harries. Then, despite a pointless opening 15 minutes, Harri Ford slotted the opening points of the afternoon from the tee to put the hosts in front.
That slender lead was soon no more, as after gathering possession from a lineout inside their own half, Dewi Cross raced up the left touchline, and offloaded to fullback Young, who scored his second of the season.
This was seemingly followed by the Blue and Blacks doubling their advantage. Young breezed past the hosts’ defence and offloaded back inside for scrum-half Lloyd to score his third of the season.
With the floodgates well and truly open, the ruthless attack by the visitors didn’t hold off. Prior to the 30-minute mark, Wilde, who added the extras to the opening two scores, kicked deep into Pooler’s 22.
Following a bounce and loss of possession, Young pounced on the loose ball to secure his fourth try of the season.
Captain Hudd was next to score as he powered his way over, with Wilde adding the extras, which saw Cardiff into a comfortable 26-3 lead.
Both Cross and Young then showcased their pace in the wide channels and eventually found Darwin-Lewis, who crossed over for his fourth of the season and Cardiff’s fifth of the contest.
Before half-time, Ford brilliantly claimed his side’s first try of the afternoon after showing some brilliant footballing skills to score. The outside-half was unable to slot the extras as Cardiff went in at the break 25 points up.
HT: Pontypool 8-33 Cardiff
Unlike the first-half, it didn’t take long for the opening points to be scored. After only being on the pitch for a matter of seconds, replacement Emanuel powered his way over to secure his third of the season.
Wilde added the extras as the Blue and Blacks hit the 40-point mark. In what was turning into a one-sided affair, Rhys Cole raced over for the hosts’ second with Ford adding the extras, which reduced the deficit to 27 points midway through the third quarter.
With that said, Hudd grabbed his second after showing great strength and footwork to power over for his side’s seventh of the afternoon. This was quickly followed by the visitors’ eighth of the contest.
Emanuel from close range secured himself a brace, as Cardiff went past the half-century mark. On the hour mark and after kicking over the top, Carrick McDonough scored the hosts’ third.
Prior to the final whistle, Cardiff found themselves down to 14-men as Gavin Parry was shown a yellow card, but that didn’t dampen the mood of Fish’s side’s dominant display at Pontypool Park.
After a late onslaught from the hosts, who were hunting a losing bonus-point, it proved insufficient as the Blue and Blacks extended their winning streak ahead of a trip to Llandovery RFC next Saturday (KO: 17:00).
FT: Pontypool 20-52 Cardiff