DC Thomas Plate Semi Final

In the last round we beat Cynon Valley 19 nil. Three days before, the Vale of Glamorgan beat them 49 7, so we knew we had to be at our best to have any chance of a result.
The first ten minutes was a see-saw affair. First we attacked strongly with our forwards rucking powerfully giving the backs good ball then the Vale would do the same. Steele Quirke then saw a gap on the halfway line, hit it at the perfect angle and broke free and out sprinted the defence to score. Rhodri Smith converted.
With the forwards playing brilliantly as one strong unit and giving Carl Blacker an armchair ride, Steele was given the ball and again sprinted over the white wash for a try.
In defence, the backs were regularly putting their opponents under constant pressure by rushing up and putting in some strong tackles. The forwards would turnover plenty of ball by being brave and working together. Time and time again the pack would off load to a supporting player or go to ground and set up a ruck placing the ball for Carl to pass to Dewi Cross. Shortly before half time, the forwards set up an attack in the Vale’s 22 and created a ruck. Carl picked up the ball, dummied to Dewi and went over for the third try.
In the second half the Vale stepped up their challenge and attacked hard and ran hard at the Pontypridd players but they stayed strong and absorbed each and every attack. No one missed a tackle and kept working till the end. The final try was scored by our human bulldozer, Alun Lawrence who crashed over with about four Vale of Glamorgan players on his back. Dewi converted for the extra two points.
With ten minutes left, on came the replacements but they didn’t weaken the side at all. In fact they strengthened the side. Their fresh legs ran strong and hard which inspired the rest of the team who tackled as if their lives depended on it. Pontypridd were determined that the Vale would not cross to score. Time and time again the Vale players attacked and tried to find a way to the try line but each time they were knocked back and couldn’t find a weakness in our defence.
All the coaches agreed that the Vale of the Glamorgan had met Pontypridd in blistering form with all players playing their best game of the season. However, with Llanelli awaiting us in the final, it is imperative that the boys don’t drop their standards.