The Valley Commandos head to Bargoed Park on Saturday 10th May to take on Bargoed RFC kick-off will be 2:30pm with a great deal riding on the match – more on that later in the piece This Saturday’s match was due to have taken place at Bargoed Park on Saturday 11th January Ponty and Bargoed have had a couple of great battles to date this season – the pair first met on what ended up being both teams’ first competitive game of the season on Saturday 14th September at Sardis Road There wasn’t a lot between them on the day but it was Pontypridd that earned a hard-fought bonus-point win by 34 points to 19 Ponty then travelled to Bargoed Park on Saturday 26th October for a Welsh Cup quarter-final tie and it could not have been any closer it was Jacob Symes that stepped up and kicked a late penalty-goal in match’s final act to seal a dramatic 29-28 win The Club’s last visit to Bargoed Park was back on Saturday 4th May 2019 with current players Dale Stuckey Joel Raikes and Rob Jones all featuring in a 55-28 win in the Premiership that particular afternoon Ponty’s win against Neath last Wednesday evening at Sardis Road coupled with the Welsh All Blacks’ defeat at Merthyr on Saturday means that the Valley Commandos are now guaranteed to finish second in the 2024/25 Welsh Premiership Bargoed are guaranteed a fourth-placed finish on their return to the Premiership but don’t for one minute think that this Saturday’s clash is a dead-rubber… Everyone knows by now that for the five Mid District clubs in this season’s Welsh Premiership there has been another competition running adjacently to it – the Mid District Premiership Cup All the results from when the Mid District clubs have played each other have been compiled into a ‘mini-league,’ with the top two qualifying for the Grand Final on Saturday 17th May at Sardis Road but the last spot is up for grabs and that’s where this Saturday’s match is vital As things stand Bargoed currently occupy second place in the Mid District standings so either a win or draw will see them through to the final against The Ironmen due to Pontypridd having a better points difference an away win this weekend will mean that it would be the Valley Commandos who progress through to the final on 17th May this week’s game is in essence also a Mid District Premiership Cup winner-takes-all semi-final The weather forecast looks good all week leading up to Saturday when it’s even better and with a place in the final and a potential second piece of silverware for the season up for grabs in less than two weeks we’ll see you at Bargoed Park #PontyFans As always the Pontypridd Supporters Club are organising travel for fans to the opposition’s ground. The bus will be departing Sardis Road at 1:15pm – please phone Phil Lycett on 01443 662561 to book a seat. Here’s our recent Supporters Bus article with all the key information – Supporters Coach to Bargoed – 10/5/2025 What a magnificent game of rugby football Neath and Pontypridd have been playing each other for around 130 years but few ties can have matched this for scoring and drama in what was a high-octane splendid advertisement for the WRU Premiership Neath adherents were left to rue the fact that the All Blacks did not have the rub of the green and did everything but win in this 33-34 midweek thriller at Sardis Road Sweltering early evening conditions greeted the two teams who entered the game locked on 86 points behind already-crowned champions Merthyr Neath made six changes from the side which won at Bonymaen last Saturday with lock Matthew Davies making his 100th appearance and centre Sean Wilcox his 50th while winger Morgan Meaclem came in for his debut After losing at Ystrad Rhondda last time out Pontypridd made a similar number of changes and scrum-half Joey Williams and flanker Will Jamieson (Cardiff) The game got off to poor start for Neath when Ponty centre Stuart Floyd-Ellis dabbed down for the opening try although Neath full back Iestyn Morgan appeared to be impeded in the chase to get back Neath hit back with some strong driving by the forwards from a penalty-line-out routine in the 22 and hooker Josh Clark peeled off the back of the maul to score at the posts for Steff Williams to convert and it was 7-5 to the All Blacks Then came a magical moment and Neath’s second try From a rock-solid scrum on the left in their own 22 Steff Williams’ pin-point kick was gathered by right wing Rhodri Wall who sprinted clear and handed inside to supporting centre Jon Bayliss who got over in the right corner for Neath’s 100th league try of the season – in modern rugby to score from first phase is a wonder; to score from first phase in your own 22 all the more so Outside-half Steff Williams converted and it was 14-5 to the All Blacks who were bubbling with prop Elis Hopkins putting in a couple of huge hits and the big men in the front five carrying strongly alongside him Pontypridd  outside-half Jayden Pugh reduced the odds when he landed a penalty but Neath’s third try came when Josh Clark scored his second off another line-out drive But Pontypridd came back strongly after Neath flanker Gethin Tremlett was yellow-carded in the lead-up to half-time Their outstanding No.8 Joseff Miles twice crossed and there was an air of similarity about his efforts as both came via the tried routine of penalty to the corner-line-out take-forward rumble-with backs rushing to assist Not aesthetically pleasing but mighty effective Pugh converted the former and Pontypridd went in at half-time with a slender one-point advantage The second-half got off to an explosive start when debutant winger Morgan Meaclem intercepted and made ground into the Pontypridd 22 centre Sean Wilcox was up in support but his pass to Jon Bayliss was dropped with a clear path to the posts ahead That chance and its elementary conversion would have put Neath in command but it was Pontypridd who struck next at the other end and increased their lead it was the penalty to the corner-line-out take-forward rumble which did the trick as Neath conceded a penalty try and lock Jon Barley was yellow-carded for attempting to stop it and Pontypridd led 19-27 The pulsating nature of play continued and the visitors bagged two more tries through flanker Jacob Blackmore and full back Iestyn Morgan Steff Williams adding the extras to both to put Neath in front at 33-27 The frantic pace continued and it was Pontypridd who got the next score levelling the try-count at five each as Miles went over for his hat-trick from – yes you’ve guessed it – another penalty- line-out drive Pugh’s conversion from the touchline was as majestic as it was vital and Pontypridd led by a point So intense was the climax that both sides forgot to use their full bench compliments Neath threw everything at Pontypridd – not so much the kitchen sink but the fridge and the washing-machine too the forwards found the energy to launch a series of drives into the belly of the Pontypridd defence but a snap drop at goal by Steff Williams sailed wide and Pontypridd held on It was not a straightforward chance and older supporters might recall a similar effort not far away from the same spot by the mercurial Arwel Thomas whose left boot won Neath the championship in 2006/07 Probably neither side deserved to lose for Neath had given as good as they got in a high-quality game – in the end it was perhaps Pontypridd’s greater accuracy that tipped it Because well as the All Blacks played from 1 to 15 more often than not when Pontypridd hit the 22 they came away with points and Neath did not quite match that – a lesson to be learned for next year Neath now move on to the last game of the season – it could not be much tougher as it is away to champions Merthyr but this Neath team has proved time and time again this season that they relish a challenge and will need to dig deep again P        W       D        L         For    Agst          Points Merthyr                                       21       19       0        2      1051      354        97 Pontypridd                                  23       18       0        5        762     445        91 NEATH                                        23       17       1        5        696     500        88 Bargoed                                      22       14       1        7        608     475        73 Brecon                                        24       11       1        12       683     684        62 PONTYPRIDD – D Stuckey; L Rochefort-Shugar J Raikes (J Williams); B Drew (K Mattravers) Cally James (capt)   Repl rested – J Symes NEATH – I Morgan; M Meaclem (K Morgan) Images courtesy of Len Kowalski www.lensworkphotography.co.uk A massive well done to the 96 superstars who ran walked or skipped their way around our course this morning at our 242 Pontypridd junior parkrun We said a huge 'hello' to 18 first timers to our course today - croeso A thrilling thirty three of our runners recorded personal best times We handed out one super-special milestone band today Today's event was made possible today thanks to our 21 hi-vis heroes who volunteered and cheered our runners around the course https://www.parkrun.org.uk/pontypridd-juniors/results/242/ © parkrun Limited (Company Number: 07289574) No part of this site may be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner Controversial bus company operator and local politician Clayton Jones who had frequent run-ins with various authorities over a period of decades In the 1980s and 1990s Mr Jones served as a Plaid Cymru councillor on the old Mid Glamorgan County Council and as deputy leader for a period of Taff Ely Borough Council which also disappeared at the time of local government reorganisation in 1996 Mr Jones ran Pontypridd-based Shamrock Travel which grew from being a one-vehicle company into one of the biggest bus operators in south east Wales with a 229-strong fleet of vehicles and 300 staff In 1993 he was banned from being a company director for five years after a county court judge ruled he had shown “commercial ineptitude” and “commercial mismanagement” in running a transport form The judge found against Mr Jones over a number of allegations made by the Official Receiver including not keeping accounts in proper order trading while insolvent and transferring assets and paying off a bank overdraft to the preference of himself and associates During the period when he was disqualified from being a company director Mr Jones’ then wife Alyson Jones ran Shamrock In 2006 they sold Shamrock Travel to the transport giant Veolia for £10m Mr Jones said: ‘” haven’t finished ” I started off as a driving instructor myself so I’m planning to get more involved with training ahead of the new EU Certificate for Professional Competence (CPC) for bus and lorry drivers He added: “I have a business in [North] Macedonia which develops seats and bodies for Mercedes mini-buses “At the end of the day you go where the market is and the market is out there.” Mr Jones couldn’t resist the temptation to set up another bus company and also in 2006 he set up Heart of Wales – a significantly smaller operation than Shamrock the firm was in conflict with the Traffic Commissioner who barred it from running services in Caerphilly following a series of complaints These included that services ran late or not at all and that the buses did not meet legal standards Traffic Commissioner Nick Jones said in a judgement that Mr Jones met the loose definition of a “rogue operator” He wrote: “I have no hesitation in confirming that the operator deserves to be put out of business The legitimate industry and other road users would rightly expect me to do so.” The Traffic Commissioner made several other criticisms including that Mr Jones was a “malign” influence compliant bus operators and the licensing system as a whole will benefit considerably as a result of this operator ceasing to have a PSV licence.” But in reviewing the Traffic Commissioner’s decision Judge Mark Hinchliffe decided Mr Jones should have been allowed to run the services Mr Jones had said he would be obliged to make 20 workers redundant if forced to give up the Caerphilly bus routes and communities would be left without services Heart of Wales went into liquidation and it was thought Mr Jones’ bus career might be at an end running local buses in the Caerphilly area On February 14 2022 the punctuality of the newly registered routes was checked The 12 routes were failing to operate properly and a punctuality monitoring exercise was carried out between February 14 and May 6 2022 The findings of the 499 observations were a 26.85% punctuality rate with 68.14% of services failing to operate Mr Jones was ordered to pay a penalty of £3,200 He was also a sponsor of Pontypridd United FC The club issued a statement which said: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Clayton Jones a long-time sponsor and one of the founding members of our club “Clayton was a truly larger-than-life figure both at our club and on the international stage He also held a great fondness for the game of cricket.” believing the party had moved too far to the left He joined the more right wing nationalist party Gwlad and became a representative of it on Ynysybwl and Coed-y-cwm Community Council until his death Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" I’m very saddened to read about Clayton I liked him a lot & he was great company I wish the article covered him more positively He put so much money into Plaid Cymru & got very little thanks for it Clayton helped me a lot over the years and I’ll never forget that Clayton was the reason I was not expelled from Plaid Cymru back in 2011 Clayton knew what I said was essentially correct though I could have put it in better words Just before my disciplinary he told Plaid they would not get a penny more from him… Read more » Not a gracious article for a man who served his community and Wales throughout his life He was a proud Welshman who upset a lot of the establishment He was my driving instructor for my first driving test I also knew him through my parents’ involvement with Plaid Cymru so I’ve followed his career with interest ever since Fair to say that ‘rogue’ is a word that might have been coined just for him Whether he was one of the ‘lovable’ sort I’ll leave to others who knew him better superficially likeable larger than life personality I suspect he was very talented (although not as a driving instructor) in an untrained way 72 is a very young age… Read more » but im seeing the adjective ‘colourful’ used by some of those who did Certainly seems that he’s going to be missed by a lot of people He maybe wasnt the best entrepteneur there’s ever been but Wales does need its entrepreneur’s And its clear he cared very much about his local community and about Wales His fallings out with plaid are well documented and while he later went on to join Gwlad he seems to have been on the periphery of the indy movement in his latter years We in the Welsh indy movement have… Read more » Connect with Nation.Cymru on Facebook and Twitter If you would like to donate to help keep Nation.Cymru running then you just need to click on the box below it will open a pop up window that will allow you to pay using your credit / debit card or paypal Enter your email address to receive instant notifications of new articles All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018 In 2017 Nation.Cymru was launched after raising £5000 from a crowdfunding campaign Today it is one of the fastest growing news sites in the UK attracting over 1.5 million visitors a month We are not backed by billionaire owners or hidden behind a paywall but we depend on our readers' support to continue our work If everyone who visited the site over the course of a month donated at least £1 we would have enough funding for the next eight years To guarantee our future please consider making a donation today. The game takes place on Saturday 10th May with a 2:30pm kick-off and the Pontypridd Supporters Club are organising transport to the ground Travelling on one of Edwards Coaches continues to be both a comfortable and convenient way for Ponty fans to travel to away grounds and get behind the Valley Commandos The bus will leave Sardis Road at 1:15pm ahead of the 2:30pm kick-off and the price is £10 per person Post-match it will depart Bargoed’s ground straight after the final whistle To book a seat on the bus to Bargoed please call Phil Lycett on 01443 662561 but please note – if you’re contacting Phil before Tuesday afternoon please use Facebook Messenger Phil will then be contactable via his home phone number after Tuesday afternoon Neath take the well-trodden path to Sardis Road to play Pontypridd in the WRU Premiership on Wednesday (kick off 7.30pm) with both sides safe in the knowledge that they are guaranteed at least a third-placed finish in the table. The All Blacks know that Pontypridd will be poised for a big effort after they lost 26-39 at Ystrad Rhondda on Saturday when Neath earned a solid 26-14 win at Bonymaen Currently the two teams are locked on 86 points but neither can catch leaders Merthyr RFC and Neath RFC congratulates the Iron-men on becoming Premiership champions for the fourth time. Again there are landmark appearances for the All Blacks with lock Matthew Davies making his 100th appearance and centre Sean Wilcox celebrating his 50th. Neath suffered a couple of injuries on Saturday so make a few changes with Morgan Meaclem coming in on the wing and Rhodri Cole at scrum-half. The All Blacks shuffle their pack with Josh Clark, Elis Hopkins, Jon Barley and  skipper Ben Williams returning to the starting line up with Casey Williams resuming on the replacements’ bench. 15 Iestyn Morgan; 14  Rhdori Wall, 13 Jon Bayliss, 12 Sean Wilcox, 11 Morgan Meaclem; 10 Steff Williams, 9 Rhodri Cole; 1 Mason Morgan, 2 Josh Clark, 3 Elis Hopkins; 4 Jon Barley, 5 Matthew Davies; 6 Jacob Blackmore, 8 Ben Williams (captain), 7  Gethin Tremlett Replacements  – 16  Kian Jones, 17 Rhys Taylor, 18 Ben Uphill, 19 Morgan Kneath, 20 Casey Williams, 21 Ellis Lewis, 22 Ki Morgan, 23 Matthew Jenkins A hat-trick of tries from Joe Miles was accompanied with scores from Stuart Floyd-Ellis and a penalty try in a highly entertaining encounter meaning the Valley Commandos complete a league double over the Welsh All Blacks. It was an exciting opening for Ponty and in the first minute fly-half Jaydan Pugh chipped ahead for himself which he regathered and broke into the Neath 22, the resulting phase saw the ball head wide to wing Iwan Griffith who was bundled into touch from the covering tackles by the visitors. The away side briefly cleared their lines only for Ponty to respond with a second chip and chase, this time from outside centre Stuart Floyd-Ellis out wide. His chip didn’t bounce kindly for the Neath defender covering back and a tackle from wing Louis Rochefort-Shugar saw him spill the ball and the centre had the simple job of grounding the ball for the first points of the night. It was a good response from the visitors who strung some territory and possession together before being awarded a penalty after Joel Raikes was penalised for offside, which enabled the Welsh All Blacks to kick to the corner. After a few more penalties conceded by the hosts, referee Marcus Caudle had a word with Ponty captain Cally James over his side’s discipline. Neath kicked into the corner and set up a rolling maul with hooker Josh Clark peeling out of the maul to score underneath the crossbar, leaving the simple conversion for his fly-half Steff Williams to give his side the lead after 12 minutes. The visitors struck for a second time a few moments later with a neat first phase move from a scrum inside their own 22. A Steff Williams cross-field kick was perfect for wing Rhodri Wall who passed inside to centre Jon Bayliss who evaded the tackle of his opposite man and rode the tackle of Rochefort-Shugar to score in the corner. Steff Williams’ conversion extended the away side’s lead to 14-5. Ponty replied with a penalty when Neath were penalised for not rolling away, leaving Jaydan Pugh a relatively simple kick which he converted to narrow the scores to six points after 20 minutes. Ponty then gave away a penalty after a breakdown infringement, which allowed the away side to kick to the corner – this resulted in a second try for hooker Clark who was on the receiving end of another powerful rolling maul. Inaccuracies were creeping into Ponty’s game after an opportunity with a lineout inside the 22 only for the throw to be not straight. The resulting scrum saw the hosts being awarded a penalty, giving Ponty another chance through a tap and go and number 8 Joe Miles did cross the tryline a couple of minutes later but was deemed to have made a double movement when carrying, which resulted in the score being disallowed. The away side were reduced to 14 players when openside flanker Gethin Tremlett was penalised for not releasing the tackler after his side were also given a warning over their discipline earlier in the half. Ponty struck with the player advantage through a rolling maul of their own which was stopped short of the tryline, before a carry from number 8 Miles saw him cross the line legally for his side’s second try of the night. Jaydan Pugh’s conversion narrowed the scores to four points after 34 minutes of play. The hosts had a chance to take the lead before the interval with another kick to the corner following a penalty. Again they put the maul to good use and they crossed with this effort with Miles again benefitting as he crashed over for his second try. Ponty held on for the final minute of the half with Pugh kicking the ball out to end the first forty, with the hosts leading 20-19 in a highly entertaining encounter. The second half began with both teams making errors with Floyd-Ellis’ pass in midfield being read brilliantly by opposing wing Morgan Meaclem, but he didn’t have the pace to finish and was chased by captain Cally James and lock Kristian Parker prevented the winger from scoring when a dropped ball saw the hosts clear. The Valley Commandos went down the other end of the field and wrapped up the four-try bonus point through another rolling maul, this one resulting in a penalty-try after the visitors collapsed the maul and lock Jon Barley being shown a yellow card. Despite being reduced to 14 players for a second time, Neath tried to turn pressure into points with a couple of penalties inside the Ponty 22 before the home side’s scrum half Joel Raikes was shown a yellow card to bring a level playing field in terms of numbers. Eventually the visitors crossed after some sustained pressure when they exposed an overlap with a looping pass which saw fullback Iestyn Morgan cross unopposed. Steff Williams’ conversion narrowed it to a one point game. The visitors were winning the kicking battle as wing Iwan Griffith struggled to gather a couple of bouncing balls, before a clearing kick from fly-half Pugh was charged down by a Neath forward who spilt the ball backwards into the path of Ben Williams who dived over to score and give his side the lead in the process. Steff Williams’ conversion made it 33-27 to Neath with just over an hour played. Ponty reverted back to the rolling maul and five minutes later Joe Miles picked up a hat-trick of tries on the night off the back of a powerful effort from the pack. The try was scored right on the left-hand touchline and was was backed up by an excellent conversion from Pugh to give his side the lead with just under 15 minutes left to play. Possession and territory swung back and forth in a highly dramatic final 10 minutes, with more Ponty inaccuracies in kicking and the lineout gifting Neath chances to win the game. The visitors attempted a drop-goal after Ponty almost won a crucial turnover, but thankfully for the home crowd Steff Williams’ kick went wide. Ponty cleared their lines from the 22 drop out but there was still time for an attack from the visitors, but they were halted by a solid home side defence in the final play which saw Pontypridd win a thrilling game by 34 points to 33. Pontypridd will head to Bargoed Park to play Bargoed in their final match of the Welsh Premiership season on Saturday 10th May. FULL TIME – Pontypridd 34-33 Neath (30/4/2025) 15. Dale Stuckey. 14. Iwan Griffith (Sam Talbot). 13. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 12. Garyn Smith. 11. Louis Rochefort-Shugar. 10. Jaydan Pugh. 9. Joel Raikes (Joey Williams). 1. Ben Drew (Kian Mattravers). 2. Rob Jones (Jeff Young). 3. Garyn Daniel (Morgan Bosanko). 4. Mitch Barnard (Lloyd Riley). 5. Kristian Parker. 6. Will Jameson. 7. Cally James (c). 8. Joe Miles. Subs: 16. Jeffrey Young. 17. Kian Mattravers. 18. Morgan Bosanko. 19. Lloyd Riley. 20. Ethan Evans. 21. Joey Williams. 22. Jacob Symes. 23. Sam Talbot. Tries: Stuart Floyd-Ellis, Joe Miles x 3, Penalty-try 15. Iestyn Morgan. 14. Rhodri Wall. 13. Jon Bayliss. 12. Sean Wilcox. 11. Morgan Meaclem. 10. Steff Williams. 9. Rhodri Cole. 1. Mason Morgan. 2. Josh Clark. 3. Elis Hopkins. 4. Jon Barley. 5. Matthew Davies. 6. Jacob Blackmore. 7. Gethin Tremlett. 8. Ben Williams (c). Subs: 16. Kian Jones. 17. Rhys Taylor. 18. Ben Uphill. 19. Morgan Kneath. 20. Casey Williams. 21. Ellis Lewis. 22. Ki Morgan. 23. Matthew Jenkins. Tries: Josh Clark x 2, Jon Bayliss, Iestyn Morgan, Ben Williams Assistant Referee/Third Official: Chris Lewis Ponty’s last home league match of the season against the Welsh All Blacks will kick-off at 7:30pm Ponty won 24-19 when the two sides met earlier this season at The Lextan Gnoll That match was played on Saturday 30th November 2024 The last time the two sides met at Sardis was earlier in 2024 during the last league campaign the Valley Commandos won by a more convincing 48-10 scoreline on that occasion Both Ponty and Neath are vying for a second-placed finish in this season’s Premiership standings after Merthyr were crowned champions last Saturday Pontypridd will also be looking to build momentum ahead of the team’s match away at Bargoed on Saturday 10th May – that game at Bargoed Park has shaped up to become a winner-takes-all contest to see who will play Merthyr in the Mid District Premiership Cup Final at Sardis Road on Saturday 17th May Pontypridd have made six changes and two positional switches to the XV that played Ystrad Rhondda three days ago and there’s a further three new faces on the substitutes bench two of them coming in the halfbacks with returns for Joel Raikes and Jaydan Pugh The third change is a third appearance of the season for Ponty for Iwan Griffith on the left wing Supporters will fondly remember his impressive debut performance bagging a hat-trick of tries and the Golden Bob against Llangennech at Sardis back in January and his selection on the left wing sees Louis Rochefort-Shugar move to the right wing Two of the three changes in the forwards come in the front row with Garyn Daniel and Ben Drew starting at tighthead and loosehead props respectively The other new face is a return for Will Jameson on the flank Will’s inclusion sees Kristian Parker move back to lock The three new faces in the matchday squad on the bench are Jeffrey Young The Pontypridd team selected to play Neath is as follows: It’s also our Sponsors Open Night this Wednesday. Whether you’re a current sponsor or you would like to get involved for the 2025/26 season now is the perfect time to connect – and you can pre-match and during half time. Here’s our recently published article regarding this – Sponsors Open Night – This Wednesday 30th April Tickets – Admission on Wednesday will be £12 full, £10 concession access-all-areas and under 16’s free if accompanied by a paying adult. You can purchase tickets on the day or to save time (which is recommended to miss the queues) you can use our online e-Ticket system, here’s the link which includes all our different packages – Pontypridd v Neath – 30/4/2025 Supporter access is via the Clubhouse end of the ground only End Of Season Merchandise Clearance Sale – There will be a pop-up stall situated inside the ground near the burger van selling lots of Club Merch items – Adult and children Rugby shirts £20 The stall will be open from 6:45pm until kick-off and during half time – everything must go so come and grab yourself a bargain or two Player(s) Of The Season Voting – For supporters who want to vote for which player(s) have been the team’s stand-out performers during the 2024-25 campaign paper voting slips will be available in the Clubhouse Live Sport In The Clubhouse – Our Clubhouse will be from 5:30pm and we’ll be showing live Champions League semi-final action on the screens – Barcelona v Inter Milan which kicks off at 8:00pm Would you like to join us on the FUN BUS to MERTHYR RFC for our final WRU Admiral Premiership match on Saturday 3rd May? Kindly note: Due to increased transport costs, cancellations or no-shows will be charged for their seat unless it is filled before departure. #WelshAllBlacks #neathrebellion #ChooseNeath #SupportTheSupporters Pontypridd Supporters Club will be running buses leaving the Pontypridd Clubhouse at 2:30pm and the buses will be returning to the club after the final whistle at the culmination of the presentation of the trophy Details of the bus drop off and pick up in Cardiff will depend on road closures and this information will be conveyed to passengers on the day of the final To book yourself a seat on one of the buses please contact Phil Lycett on 01443 662561 In order for the club to transfer the ticket(s) to you then the club requires your mobile telephone number which should be given at the time of booking the seat on the supporters coach If you are not fortunate enough to get one of the discounted tickets then tickets can be purchased at – https://www.eticketing.co.uk/principalitystadium/Events?preFilter=53&preFilterName=NATIONAL%20FINALS%20DAY%202025  Please note that all tickets for the event are digital Now that you have all the information for the club’s first cup final day since 2017 make sure you get yourself to the stadium on Saturday 5th April to cheer on the team Neath travel to Pontypridd for our penultimate  WRU Premiership league game on Wednesday evening (30th April) The Welsh All Blacks visit Sardis Road this coming Wednesday evening 30th April for a 7:30pm kick-off Ponty travelled to The Lextan Gnoll earlier this season on Saturday 30th November close-fought wins on the road for the Valley Commandos during the current campaign Pontypridd were forced to play more than half the match with 14 men after Joel Raikes’ red card at the end of the first period But Ponty dug deep to triumph by 24 points to 19 thanks in the large to two tries from Rob Jones and one for Dale Stuckey The clubs’ last meeting at Sardis Road was on Saturday 13th January 2024 and Cally James Joe Miles and Kristian Parker were amongst the eight Ponty try scorers which helped seal a 48-10 win The team’s defeat away at Ystrad Rhondda on Saturday coupled with Neath’s win away at Bonymaen now means that the two clubs sit in joint-second place on 86 league points Neither Ponty or Neath can finish any lower than third but both teams will be eyeing a second-placed finish and Wednesday’s match will go a long way to deciding that Merthyr’s win at Brecon last Saturday confirmed them as Premiership Champions for the 2024/25 season – congratulations to the Ironmen There may be just two league matches left for Pontypridd this season but there’s still lots to play for – as well as a potential victory on Wednesday helping their chances to finish second in the league the Valley Commandos will need to beat Bargoed on the road in their final match to earn their place in the Mid District Premiership Final on 17th May The team will need their 16th player – you – more than ever to get behind them in their final two league matches We look forward to welcoming both sets of supporters to Sardis Road this Wednesday evening The Admiral Premiership match between the two sides kicks off at 2:30pm Matches between the two clubs goes back 140 years with the first known encounter taking place on 24th September 1885 This Saturday’s match marks Ponty’s first visit to Gelligaled Park since pre-season 2016 when on Saturday 20th August that particular year it was the Valley Commandos that came away with a 38-0 win there’s no doubt that tomorrow afternoon’s clash will be a much closer affair as the evidence suggests when the two teams last locked horns earlier in the season In the ‘festive derby’ at Sardis Road on Saturday 21st December played out in front of a sizeable crowd it was Pontypridd that earned an extremely hard-fought late win by 26 points to 17 for Pontypridd there’s also the the double-incentive of league points and Mid District Cup points on offer to firstly keep the pressure on Merthyr at the top of the Premiership table and secondly to try and qualify for the Mid District Premiership Final on 17th May Ponty have made three changes to the XV that played Newcastle Emlyn at Sardis last Saturday alongside a positional switch The sole change in the backs is Louis Rochefort-Shugar being drafted back into the XV on the wing Whilst in the forwards Joe Miles returns from injury to start at no.8 and Niall Moore earns his first start for the club in the boiler house house with Mitch Barnard The switch in the pack sees player-Head Coach Kris Parker move onto the blindside flank The only new face on the bench is Joel Raikes following his return from injury The Pontypridd casualty and unavailability list remains a long one Aside from long-term absentees like Cai James Joe Davies is now in the treatment room whilst Lloyd Riley is unavailable All the other players that are not involved Saturday are either injured or unavailable The Pontypridd team selected to play Ystrad Rhondda is as follows: A NOTE FROM OUR CLUB TO ALL PONTY RFC SUPPORTERS – A polite notice for Pontypridd supporters – you will not be able to park/leave your cars in front of the Sardis Road Clubhouse or in the ground on Saturday due to the Women’s Mid District Final that’s being held at Sardis Road – thank you for your cooperation The postcode for Gelligaled Park is CF41 7SY Ystrad’s clubhouse is just back in the town and the address for that is 82 Gelligaled Road The match was originally scheduled to take place at Sardis Road on Saturday 5th April but it needed to be rescheduled due Ponty earning their place in the Welsh Cup Final on that particular afternoon The new date has now been approved – CONFIRMATION: Pontypridd v Neath – Wednesday 30th April 2025 The Admiral Premiership match between the two clubs will kick-off at 2:30pm at Gelligaled Park Matches between the two clubs goes way back with our Club Historian Alun Granfield informing us that the first record of a game taking place was on 24th September 1885 and it Ponty that came away with a win by a goal The last match between Ponty and Ystrad at Gelligaled Park was a bit more recent on Saturday 20th August 2016 and it was Pontypridd that came away with a 38-0 win in a pre-season friendly This season the teams met just before Christmas in a ‘festive derby’ at Sardis Road on Saturday 21st December Played out in front of a bumper vocal crowd the contest was everything you’d expect from a local derby and with a few minutes left the result could have gone either way Ponty were leading by just two points when number 8 Joe Miles crashed over for his third try of the afternoon to help seal a 26-17 win for the Valley Commandos There are now just three league matches remaining for Pontypridd and the team can still get to one hundred points in the Premiership but that will still not be enough without Merthyr losing at least two matches before the end of the season so once again it’s as you were in terms of the points separating each other Ystrad currently sit comfortably in mid table in what’s their first season at Premiership level Despite losing away at Llangennech last Saturday Gelligaled Park is a bit of a fortress for them and in their previous five home league matches they have won four beating Bargoed Newcastle Emlyn and Neath whilst losing 27-20 against Cardiff Met after conceding a late try A subplot on top of this weekend’s match is the Mid District Premiership Cup Pontypridd currently occupy third place in the table with Saturday’s result at Ystrad and the final game of the season’s result away at Bargoed contributing to the final standings – the top two will face off in the final on 17th May for the third major trophy of the 2024/25 season a double-incentive to get the W for Pontypridd – this Saturday should be a cracker As always the Pontypridd Supporters Club are organising travel for fans to the opposition’s ground. The bus will be departing Sardis Road at 1:00pm – please phone Phil Lycett on 01443 662561 to book a seat. Here’s our recent Supporters Bus article with all the key information – Supporters Coach to Ystrad Rhondda A hat-trick of tries for wing Sam Talbot was accompanied by a brace for Stuart Floyd-Ellis and scores from Rob Jones, Jude Williams and Garyn Smith. It didn’t take long for Ponty to open the scoring when a neat miss pass from Garyn Smith put Sam Talbot into space in the corner and the right wing did well to stretch out to score after just forty seconds. Fly-half Jacob Symes added the conversion to give his side a 7-0 lead. Emlyn’s first chance of the game came following a couple of penalties going against Ponty, which gave them field position via a lineout in the opposing 22. After Ponty initially defended the rolling maul, a tap penalty move brought the visitors their first points of the match through fullback Bleddyn Morgan. Outside centre Mike Jones’ conversion levelled the scores at 7-all. An opportunity went begging for the hosts in the 26th minute from a lineout five meters out from the Emlyn tryline – the throw missed the intended target of Kris Parker and the visitors cleared their lines with handling errors quickly becoming the theme of the opening half an hour. Moments later, Ponty were awarded a penalty after a side entry in the breakdown, the hosts kicked to the corner and after a strong shove in the rolling maul Rob Jones was on the receiving end to score. The hosts shifted into another gear before the interval, scoring twice in the half’s final few minutes, with wing Talbot finishing off a neat move to pick up his second try of the first 40. In the half’s final play, the bonus point score was wrapped up for the hosts with wing Jude Williams breaking down the wing with centre Stuart Floyd-Ellis in support to cross in the corner. Symes’ conversion drifted wide but Ponty had a 22-7 lead at the interval. HALF TIME – Pontypridd 22-7 Newcastle Emlyn The home side started the second half in similar fashion to the first with a fifth try after 45 minutes. It was the visitors who attacked from their own half but a great read from Jude Williams saw him intercept the pass to score underneath the cross bar, leaving a simple conversion for Symes. Ponty were reduced to 14 players on the hour mark when number 8 Lloyd Riley was sent to the sin-bin after he was caught offside in a frantic passage of play which ended with wing Gwion Jones being bundled into touch by a Jude Williams tackle in the corner. Despite a couple of penalties going against the hosts, they managed to force an error from the visitors and were given the opportunity to clear their lines with a penalty after the away side were penalised for holding on. Wing Talbot grabbed his hat-trick in the final 10 minutes from a first phase move off the back of a scrum. A miss pass from Garyn Smith put Stuckey into space and he drew the final defender to put Talbot over in the corner. There were now just under five minutes left in the contest when centre Smith dummied his way through the Emlyn defence for a well-deserved try, which his brother Rhodri converted as the hosts passed 40 points on the scoreboard. An eighth try followed with a couple of minutes left when Ponty exposed an overlap out wide which resulted in outside centre Floyd-Ellis crossing for his second of the afternoon. After a knock on from Floyd-Ellis, referee Joseff Rees called full time with Ponty claiming the full five match points with a 48-7 victory. Pontypridd travel to Ystrad Rhondda in their next fixture in the Admiral Welsh Premiership on Saturday 26th April, before returning to Sardis Road on Wednesday April 30th when they welcome Neath. FULL TIME – Pontypridd 48-7 Newcastle Emlyn (19/4/2025) 15. Dale Stuckey. 14. Sam Talbot. 13. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 12. Garyn Smith. 11. Jude Williams (Josh Jackson). 10. Jacob Symes (Rhodri Smith). 9. Lucus Welch (Joey Williams). 1. Ben Stephens (Ben Drew). 2. Rob Jones (Garyn Daniel). 3. Morgan Bosanko (Kian Mattravers). 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Kristian Parker (Ethan Evans). 6. Rhys Emmott. 7. Cally James (c) (Niall Moore). 8. Lloyd Riley. Subs: 16. Kian Mattravers. 17. Ben Drew. 18. Garyn Daniel. 19. Niall Moore. 20. Ethan Evans. 21. Joey Williams. 22. Rhodri Smith. 23. Josh Jackson. Tries: Sam Talbot x 3, Rob Jones, Stuart Floyd-Ellis x 2, Jude Williams, Garyn Smith Conversions: Jacob Symes x 2, Rhodri Smith x 2 15. Bleddyn Morgan. 14. Gwion Jones. 13. Mike Jones. 12. Andrew Owens. 11. Celt Davies. 10. Steffan Evans. 9. Dion Jones. 1. Emrys Davies (c). 2. Ioan Rees-Lewis. 3. Ifan Bryant. 4. Bleddyn Davies. 5. Aled Davies. 6. Callum Evans. 7. Sam F Evans. 8. Callum Williams. Subs: 16. Reece Morris. 17. Teifi Thomas. 18. Gethin Davies. 19. Osian Dafis. 20. Dylan Davies. 21. Alex Williams. 22. Cian Jones. 23. Deiniol Rees. Assistant Referee/Third Official: Tony Davies The Valley Commandos travelled to Dôl Wiber prior to Christmas on Saturday 14th December and bagged a 38-0 win – that was the first ever meeting between the two clubs Pontypridd head into tomorrow’s match knowing only a win will suffice if they have any chance of catching Merthyr at the top of the Premiership standings Ponty have made four changes to the XV that started at Pandy Park last Saturday and there’s another two new faces that have come onto the bench Rob Jones and Rhys Emmott are the three who have come into the pack Jacob Symes is the new face that has come into the backline and on the bench winger Josh Jackson is on permit from Carmarthen Quins and could make his debut Unavailability – All the players that are not involved tomorrow are either injured or unavailable as the business end of the season takes its toll There’s a milestone for another Ponty stalwart of recent years – Ben Stephens will make his 100th appearance for the club when he runs out for the match tomorrow afternoon The Pontypridd team selected to play Newcastle Emlyn is as follows: Pontypridd Youth will be playing Abercwmboi Youth with 5:30pm kick-off – even more rugby action on the pitch for your enjoyment Tickets – Admission on Saturday will be £12 full, £10 concession access-all-areas and under 16’s free if accompanied by a paying adult. You can purchase tickets on the day or to save time (which is recommended to miss the queues) you can use our online e-Ticket system, here’s the link which includes all our different packages – Pontypridd v Newcastle Emlyn – 19/4/2025 Live Sport In The Clubhouse – Our Clubhouse will be from midday onwards and we will be showing a mixture of live rugby on our screens throughout the afternoon – Harlequins v Sale (3:05pm) and Saracens v Gloucester (5:30pm) in the Gallagher Premiership and Ospreys v Cardiff (3:00pm) and Dragons v Scarlets (5:30pm) in the URC Sardis Road is the place to be this Easter Saturday and we look forward to welcoming all the supporters for both matches to The House Of Pain With a narrow half time lead of 10-5 following a try for Joe Davies and five points from the kicking of Ioan Evans, a commanding second half display which included five Ponty tries rounded off an emphatic performance to end a run of three straight defeats. Fullback Dale Stuckey thought he had scored the opening try of the final in the second minute as he gathered a cross-field kick from Ioan Evans. But referee Aaron Parry rightfully ruled a knock on from wing Joe Davies in the build-up. Two minutes later the wing made up for his error when he broke through a couple of defenders to score in the fourth minute, with fly-half Evans adding the conversion. Cross Keys had an attacking opportunity from the restart when scrum-half Joel Raikes took too long to play the ball from the back of a ruck. Despite the Keys going through several phases inside the opposing 22, their momentum was halted by a turnover from Ponty captain Cally James. Pontypridd had an attacking chance themselves in the 14th minute, only for Stuckey to be penalised for holding on a short distance away from the tryline. A miscommunication in the Keys backfield almost resulted in a second score for the Valley Commandos – after a Ioan Evans cross-field kick was spilled, a grubber kick from Stuckey fell kindly to Louis Rochefort-Shugar who was crossed the tryline. But following a TMO check, it was deemed that Rochefort-Shugar had used up all his movements getting to the tryline before placing the ball on the line. The attack for Kris Parker’s side was nearly starting to click with a lovely first phase move from a scrum giving Stuckey and Davies space out wide, only to be stopped by the covering defence. In the 28th minute, Joe Davies took a high ball before starting an attack by beating a couple of defenders, only for his pass to be deliberately knocked on by Keys winger Ralph Miller who was shown a yellow card. The resulting penalty saw fly-half Evans kick a penalty-goal to extend his side’s lead to 10 points, 10-0 after half an hour of play. Despite the player disadvantage, it was the Keys who got the next points on the board after a penalty offence where Ben Stephens was penalised for ripping the ball illegally off the floor. A kick to the corner followed and a rolling maul was set up behind the jumping pod, which rumbled over to score with captain Corey Nicholls grounding the ball for the try. With points on the board the momentum suddenly swung the way of the Keys with fly-half Rhys Jones darting through midfield to break clear only to be stopped by the covering Ponty defence. An excellent turnover from Mitch Barnard relieved pressure, but not for long as Stuckey’s clearing kick went straight to his opposite number Ben Roberts. But Roberts’ pass failed to find his support and it was bundled into touch to mark the end of a tense first half, with Ponty leading 10-5 at the interval. HALF TIME – Cross Keys 5-10 Pontypridd Joe Davies went on another one of his mazy runs at the beginning of the second half as he beat two defenders before Ponty were awarded a penalty for not releasing the tackler in the breakdown. A few minutes later, Ponty got their second try of the match through centre Stuart Floyd-Ellis who had to be patient following several forward phases in the build up inside the Keys 22. The try set off a spark for the Valley Commandos who again benefitted from a turnover from Cally James to set up another attack in the 22. Moments later, referee Parry delved into his pocket for a second time after a high tackle from Keys inside centre Duan Thomas on wing Rochefort-Shugar. In similar fashion to the opposition in the first half, a kick to the corner was in order but Ponty used a more traditional rolling maul but it had the same impact, with hooker Rob Jones burrowing over for the score. Immediately from the restart, fly-half Evans flew through a gap in the Keys defence before kicking a brilliant 50/22 despite a couple of question marks from Ponty supporters when there were players in support. Wing Davies crossed for his second try from short range after Ponty again showed their patience in the build-up following several phases of play close to the tryline. The pick of the tries came just after the hour mark, with Player of the Match Joe Davies involved again with a chip he regathered before assisting a try to replacement Lucus Welch who was on hand in support to score a fifth Ponty try. Try number six arrived through the capable hands of head coach Kristian Parker who crossed over from short distance in the 73rd minute. Jaydan Pugh’s conversion extended the lead to 43 points to 5. There was something for the Keys supporters to celebrate in the second half with a penalty-try in the final five minutes, although replacement hooker Connah Hughes may feel hard done by as he thought he had grounded the ball. Replacement Ponty hooker Jeff Young was sin-binned as a result of his infringement which led to the penalty-try award. But with the scoreboard out of reach with Ponty comfortably ahead, the celebrations began when Lucus Welch booted the ball out of play with the clock in the red and Pontypridd claimed this season’s Welsh Premiership Cup. FULL TIME – Cross Keys 12-43 Pontypridd (5/4/2025) 15. Dale Stuckey. 14. Joe Davies. 13. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 12. Garyn Smith. 11. Louis Rochefort-Shugar (Sam Talbot). 10. Ioan Evans (Jaydan Pugh). 9. Joel Raikes (Lucus Welch). 1. Ben Stephens (Ben Drew). 2. Rob Jones (Jeff Young). 3. Garyn Daniel (Morgan Bosanko). 4. Mitch Barnard (Oliver Lewis). 5. Kristian Parker. 6. Lloyd Riley (Aled Evans). 7. Cally James (c). 8. Joe Miles. Subs: 16. Jeff Young. 17. Ben Drew. 18. Morgan Bosanko. 19. Oliver Lewis. 20. Aled Evans. 21. Lucus Welch. 22. Jaydan Pugh. 23. Sam Talbot. Tries: Joe Davies x 2, Stuart Floyd-Ellis, Rob Jones, Lucus Welch, Kristian Parker 15. Ben Roberts. 14. Ralph Miller. 13. Tom Sullivan. 12. Duan Thomas. 11. Laurence Donnelly. 10. Rhys Jones. 9. Tom Bridge. 1. Jake Wisniewski. 2. Nathan Huish. 3. Richard Cornock. 4. Jon Verrier. 5. Harvey Reader. 6. Sam Llewellyn. 7. Louis Pullen. 8. Corey Nicholls (c). Subs: 16. Connah Hughes. 17. Rhys Hunt. 18. Tom Burnham. 19. Callum Hague. 20. Will Morgan. 21. Ben Murphy. 22. Dan Babos. 23. Adam Tetley. Ponty triumphed 53-14 against Newbridge at the Lextan Gnoll after a nine-try blitz The Valley Commandos put in a commanding performance to book their place in the showcase final for the first time since 2017 Head Coach Kristian Parker was delighted with the team’s showing and said: “It’s been a long time coming for Ponty The fans deserved this more than anyone today they’ve stuck with us through thick and thin and it was all about them today and bringing those glory days hopefully back to Ponty I take my hat off to Newbridge they stayed in that contest for eighty minutes and they threw everything to us so big credit to them But the boys came out all guns blazing that first forty I think we really set the tone and showed the Ponty DNA of playing with speed intent and aggression and that’s what we need to see now for the rest of the season.” The other semi-final between Merthyr and Cross Keys was played at Bargoed Park The Ironmen raced into a 14-0 lead after 22 minutes of play before being pegged back to 14-all at half time The Wern men looked to have done enough to book their place in the final as well but Cross Keys had other ideas and a late try and conversion once again levelled things up at 26 points apiece but a late Keys penalty-goal sealed a huge win for the Pandy Park men by 36 points to 31 The 2025 final will be a repeat of the finals in 2012 and 2014 when both clubs played each other in pursuit of silverware but Ponty got their revenge a couple of years later when they lifted the famous old trophy following a 21-8 triumph in 2014 This year’s final will take place on Saturday 5th April 2025 so our home league fixture against Neath RFC will now need to be rearranged We have listed the Cup Final kick-off time on our website as 3pm but please note that this is NOT confirmed – as soon as it is we will relay all the key information to our supporters The Ponty Supporters Club will be organising transport to the final all the finer detail for this and match tickets will be relayed to you all in due course CONFIRMATION: 2025 Welsh Cup Final – Pontypridd v Cross Keys: Saturday 5th April UPDATE – The kick-off time has been confirmed as 5:35pm with a first half brace of tries for wing Finley Baker proving vital Despite a first half score from Dale Stuckey and a second half score from Oli Shepherd alongside a penalty try the visitors were in control for the majority of the game as they narrowed the gap at the top of the Welsh Premiership table to one point Merthyr opened the scoring after five minutes through an early penalty from Ben Jones after Ponty tighthead prop Morgan Bosanko was penalised for not rolling away Both teams were looking to find territory through their kicking game with an exit kick from the visitors giving Ponty a chance inside the Merthyr half But a poor pass and Ponty being caught offside from a knock on gave the away side a chance following a good kick and some sustained pressure inside the hosts’ 22 with consistent carrying before scrum half James Soanes crossed over for the first try of the match Ben Jones converted to extend the lead to 10-0 in as many minutes a box-kick bounced kindly to openside flanker Lennon Greggains and he broke down the wing only to be stopped by an excellent tackle from fullback Oli Shepherd Despite clearing their lines from a lineout Merthyr had an opportunity in the 22 but a turnover and a quickly taken penalty from Dale Stuckey turned defence into attack A first venture into The Ironmen’s 22 eventually yielded points for the hosts Firstly several forward carries edged Ponty closer to the tryline but they couldn’t quite get over After two penalties conceded by the away side the ball was spun out wide to wing Dale Stuckey who held off the defender to score A scuffle broke out between the two teams following the try and referee Andrew Moule reached into his pocket to award a yellow card to Joel Raikes and Merthyr’s Greggains Ponty opted to make a change to bring on scrum half Lucus Welch for wing Stuart Floyd-Ellis – Ponty being reduced to 14 men proved costly with Merthyr scoring two tries during the 10 minutes sin-binning period The first saw outside centre Cole Swannack breaking through in midfield following a step inside to beat a defender before linking up well with wing Finley Baker Baker beat the final defender and scored in the corner and Ben Jones’ conversion made it 17-7 In the build up to the second try fly-half Jones broke through following a Ponty kick But some smart play from Craig Locke to notice space on the blindside wing put Baker over for his second The conversion was missed but Merthyr led 22-7 after 28 minutes Ironmen skipper Jones kicked a penalty in the half’s final act after Ponty were caught offside and the visitors led 25-7 at the interval with a lot of work needed to be done for the hosts in the second period The second half got underway and after a nice string of possession for Ponty a penalty gave them a chance inside the 22 only for an overthrow at the lineout resulting in turnover ball A second opportunity came a couple of minutes later only for a turnover in the tackle and an excellent chase from the visiting side forced a holding-on penalty but his well struck effort dropped short of the crossbar only for a knock on from his opposite man Pugh with another penalty from the scrum the outside half added the routine penalty The Ponty supporters at Sardis did have some hope after 65 minutes following a well worked score for fullback Oli Shepherd – Garyn Smith’s neat inside pass put Stuart Floyd-Ellis into space and he fended off a Merthyr defender to offload inside to Shepherd for the try The visitors wrapped up the bonus point try in the final quarter using the rolling maul to good effect and hooker Ellis Shipp peeled away from the maul to seal the victory Ponty were then awarded a penalty-try in the final 10 minutes of the match After a dominant scrum five meters out was getting close to the tryline only for an infringement to stop the momentum short Referee Moule ran under the posts and awarded a yellow card to replacement Merthyr prop Callum Lewis Despite looking for a try which would have earned them two bonus points Ponty weren’t able to find their way over the line as mistakes kept creeping in to the home side’s play Pontypridd will now head to Brecon in their next Welsh Premiership match on the 29th of March before heading to the Principality Stadium to face Cross Keys in the final of the Welsh Premiership Cup on Saturday 5th April FULL TIME – Pontypridd 19-33 Merthyr (22/3/2025) Assistant Referee/Third Official: Mike Sheehan Pontypridd United completed an astonishing comeback to win 3-2 against Connah’s Quay Nomads and seal promotion back to the Genero Adran Premier It was Pontypridd who came out with far more intensity than the Nomads at the beginning of the game but perhaps France’s best save came midway through the half to deny Faye Marshall It did take a bit of time for the Genero Adran North champions to get used to the tempo of the game but they eventually found their groove and began to test the Ponty defence Hannah Slack’s volley landed on the roof of the net while Anna Marsh’s free kick whistled over the crossbar The most interesting battle of the day was between Polly Wild-McGregor and Amelia Forkings The Nomads captain has been in scintillating form in front of goal this season but Forkings was making a good attempt at making sure the skipper wouldn’t add to her tally as she made two fine saves to keep the scores level But the number seven wasn’t going to be denied a third time and with two minutes of the first half remaining she broke the deadlock thanks to a composed finish into the bottom corner Jordan Parry’s team were now in the ascendency and unbelievably found a second goal before the break Poppy Kendrick-Jones saw Forkings slightly off her line and the former TNS youngster proceeded to hit a delicious volley over her and into the net If the end of the first period had been a dream for Connah’s Quay Madison Williams’ corner found the head of substitute Shannon Hindmarsh who powered home to reduce the deficit If one team looked the more likely to go on and score another goal it was Claire O’Sullivan’s side Payne skipped round France but couldn’t squeeze the ball in from a tight angle while Caitlin Seaborne couldn’t keep her header down Wild-McGregor did have the ball in the back of the net but the offside flag quickly muted Nomads celebrations But with 10 minutes remaining there was a team celebrating Ponty’s taliswoman Nicole Fenton turned quickly before dispatching into the bottom corner Emily Poole’s cross into the box found Quianna Wheeler who was allowed to turn and find the corner of the net Despite a late push from Connah’s Quay in the dying embers of the game and it’s Pontypridd United who return to the Genero Adran Premier at the first time of asking Pontypridd United ‘over the moon’ to win promotion to Genero Adran Premier Cardiff City defeat Wrexham in Genero Adran U19 national final Pontypridd United secure Genero Adran South title Cardiff City secure third successive Genero Adran Premier title Connah’s Quay Nomads secure Genero Adran North title Close ModalLearn more from FA WalesSign up to receive all things FAW We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data – view our privacy policy by clicking here © 2025 The Football Association of Wales * We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data – view our privacy policy by clicking here. Kick-off is 5:35pm and the match will be shown live on S4C This Saturday’s final heralds Ponty’s first visit to the Principality Stadium since 2017 the last time the team reached the final of the cup The Valley Commandos will be looking to lift the famous old trophy for the first time since 2014 and for a seventh time in the Club’s history tomorrow evening Ponty and the Keys have met on two previous occasions at the final stage at ‘the stadium’ In 2012 Cross Keys triumphed by 32 points to 19 before Ponty got their revenge two years later winning 21-8 in 2014 – the last time we lifted the trophy Ponty have made three changes to the XV that started last week’s league match at Brecon On top of that there are also three positional switches and three new faces have come into the matchday squad on the bench In the backs Joel Raikes returns to start and scrum-half and Louis Rochefort-Shugar is drafted back in to the left-wing berth These changes result in a reshuffle in the backline – Stuart Floyd-Ellis moves from the wing to outside-centre Garyn Smith moves one place to inside-centre with Ioan Evans switching to flyhalf The sole change in the pack is a return at loosehead prop for Ben Stephens The three new faces on the substitutes bench are Oliver Lewis Missing out on the final because of injury are Cai James and Oli Shepherd The Pontypridd team selected to play Cross Keys is as follows: For supporters who have booked on the official Supporters Club transport the buses are departing Sardis Road at 2:30pm For all enquiries Phil Lycett’s number is 01443 662561 You can still buy your tickets for the final direct from the Welsh Rugby Union here – https://www.eticketing.co.uk/principalitystadium/Events?preFilter=53&preFilterName=NATIONAL%20FINALS%20DAY%202025  Please note that all tickets for the event are digital Three tries from Miles was accompanied by a score from Rob Jones, whilst the visitors fought hard with tries from Kurtis Williams, Liam Wiggins and Kelly Jones. It was a cagey start from both teams with Ponty’s opening spell of possession resulting in a dropped ball from Cai James, whilst Ystrad Rhondda’s first attacking set saw fullback Alex Webber give a forward pass to wing Cavan Davies. Ponty created a first chance when fullback Dale Stuckey broke down the wing, but his pass was dropped by Joe Davies who was running a support line on his inside. The resulting scrum saw the hosts win the ball against the head, but some good breakdown work and an excellent clearance kick from fly-half Rhys Truelove relieved the pressure. A spilt ball gave Ystrad some field position and they were awarded a penalty when the home side were penalised for offside, but Rhys Truelove’s effort drifted wide of the posts to leave the scores at 0-0 after nine minutes. The first points of the match came after a quarter of an hour when Ponty turned the screw in the scrum five meters out after a penalty, with number 8 Joe Miles having the simple task of grounding the ball down to give his side the lead. A second try followed three minutes later as the hosts showed more dominance in the scrum before kicking to the corner. From the lineout, a rolling maul was formed and powered over the tryline with hooker Rob Jones scoring. The conversion from Jaydan Pugh extended the lead to 12-0 after 20 minutes. It was Ystrad’s turn to use the rolling maul moments later and a strong drive won a penalty inside the Ponty 22. After a couple more penalties in the red zone, referee Joseff Rees went into his pocket to award the home side’s loosehead prop Ben Stephens a yellow card. Despite the player disadvantage, Ponty held out and rebuffed an attempt to their tryline from Ystrad scrum half Keian Richards when they held the ball up over the line. The visitors did eventually use the man advantage from a scrum inside their own half. With an overlap on the blindside, Alex Webber dummied his way through the gap and it was a combination of the fullback, Keian Richards and wing Kurtis Williams with some neat handling which saw latter crossing in the corner. The Pontypridd scrum had still been motoring despite Stephens’ yellow card, with referee Rees losing patience with the Ystrad scrum and gave a yellow card to tighthead prop Jordan Pritchard. Moments later there was some breakdown infringements from the visitors when Ponty were looking for a third try, and Ystrad lock Morgan Burgess was also sent to the sinbin. With a two-player advantage, Ponty couldn’t quite cross the line as the visitors turned the ball over and a clearance from Webber was the final play of the first half, with the hosts leading 12-5. HALF TIME – Pontypridd 12-5 Ystrad Rhondda A break from try scorer Kurtis Williams at the beginning of the second half gave Ystrad an excellent chance to get their second try, but a pass from centre Cole Morgan didn’t go to hand and Ponty survived after two defensive reads from Stuart Floyd-Ellis. The visitors controlled the territorial battle between the two sides as Ponty struggled to gain any momentum. Ystrad had a brilliant opportunity when Joe Davies was penalised for a push whilst chasing a box kick, with the kick to touch giving the away side some field position in the 22. After a couple of rolling mauls that were adjudged to have been stopped illegally by the home side, referee Rees gave out a fourth card of the game – this time to Ponty flanker Cai James as pressure mounted on the Ponty defence. Another penalty followed before eventually the visitors crossed with the maul when hooker Liam Wiggins, at the back of the maul, crashed over to score. The conversion by Truelove fell short as Ponty held on to their two point lead. Ex-Ponty favourite Alex Webber was having a fine game for the visitors and a break following a box-kick could have given his side the lead, but despite the support outside him his pass didn’t go to hand. Despite Ystrad enjoying the bulk of possession and territory during this particular period of the contest, it was Ponty who scored next following a break from the scrum by centre Ioan Evans. The ball was recycled with quick phases and it was number 8 Joe Miles who picked up his second try of the afternoon. Jaydan Pugh kicked his second conversion and Ponty led 19-10 after 66 minutes. From the restart, Ystrad regained possession and broke through with centre Morgan who was hauled down by Stuckey, but two phases later they crossed for their third try through number 8 Kelly Jones who ran an out-to-in angle to break the Ponty defence. A first conversion of the match for fly-half Truelove narrowed the scores back to two points to make for a tense final ten minutes. The frantic nature of the game continued following the restart, with Joe Davies making a break from a poor Ystrad exit, his inside pass to scrum half Welch saw Ystrad hooker Wiggins shown a yellow card for tackling off the ball. Number 8 Miles thought he had crossed for his hat-trick as the clock ticked down but he was deemed to have knocked the ball on, which allowed the visitors to clear with a goal line drop out. With the match now into the dying seconds, Miles rounded off his own fine display with his third when he broke through after a pickup from the breakdown to run in unopposed. Pugh’s third conversion extended the Ponty lead to nine points with the final try sealing the four-try bonus-point for the Valley Commandos. FULL TIME – Pontypridd 26-17 Ystrad Rhondda (21/12/2024) 15. Dale Stuckey. 14. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 13. Garyn Smith (Sam Talbot). 12. Ioan Evans. 11. Joe Davies. 10. Jaydan Pugh. 9. Lucus Welch. 1. Ben Stephens (Ben Drew). 2. Rob Jones (Jeff Young). 3. Morgan Bosanko (Garyn Daniel). 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Kristian Parker. 6. Cai James. 7. Cally James (c) (Will Jameson). 8. Joe Miles. Subs: 16. Jeff Young. 17. Ben Drew. 18. Garyn Daniel. 19. Will Jameson. 20. Lloyd Riley. 21. Joey Williams. 22. Jacob Symes. 23. Sam Talbot. 15. Alex Webber. 14. Kurtis Williams. 13. Logan Hutchings. 12. Cole Morgan. 11. Cavan Davies. 10. Rhys Truelove. 9. Keian Richards. 1. Tom Stacey. 2. Liam Wiggins. 3. Jordan Pritchard. 4. Rhys Dauncey. 5. Morgan Burgess. 6. Jack Rees. 7. Jarrad Llewellyn (c). 8. Kelly Jones. Subs: 16. Corben Evans. 17. Leon Moore. 18. David Webb. 19. Thomas John. 20. Garyn Davies. 21. Callum Phillips. 22. Lewis Williams. 23. Josh Williams. Tries: Kurtis Williams, Liam Wiggins, Kelly Jones Yellow Cards: Jordan Pritchard, Morgan Burgess, Liam Wiggins Ponty themselves looked to have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when Rob Jones burrowed over as the clock hit 80 minutes to put them into the lead Bony were awarded a penalty with the last play of the match and flyhalf Lawrence Thomas held his nerve to seal an extremely valuable win for the home side Pontypridd got the match underway and started brightly They received the ball back from a clearing Bonymaen box-kick and a couple of phases later Aled Evans made a nice break in midfield before he was tackled the ball was spun wide left but Stuart Floyd-Ellis was forced into touch The Valley Commandos continued to apply early pressure and forced a charge down from a clearing kick The match was only five minutes old and was being played almost exclusively in the Bonymaen 22 Bony repelled Ponty holding the ball up over the tryline but with penalty advantage in their back pocket Ioan Evans kicked the ball into the corner and from the lineout Jeffrey Young scored at the back of the rolling maul The conversion was missed but the away side had an early 5-0 lead The match restarted and Bonymaen got themselves right into the contest they started working the phases and Ponty gave away back-to-back penalties which allowed them to kick into the corner themselves The home side’s lineout rolling maul proved as equally effective and no.8 Rhys Leonard scored from the back of it Lawrence Thomas’ conversion nudged Bonymaen into the lead 7-5 after 14 minutes The home side’s celebrations turned to jubilation when they scored immediately from the kick-off restart Bonymaen gained possession and the ball was fly-hacked through and centre Steffan Pryce-Griffiths won the race to score Lawrence Thomas added a superb conversion from out wide and all of a sudden it was a two-score lead for Bony after 16 minutes The momentum swung to and fro in the opening half an hour and it swung back towards Ponty during the next period in the match – a string of penalty awards which gave good field position was countered by a miss-firing Pontypridd lineout Ponty were awarded a third penalty in fairly quick succession and this time Joel Raikes took it quickly and fed Oli Shepherd down the left he was brought down but the away side still had possession of the ball and with the tryline in touching distance Pontypridd were penalised for holding on but it was only temporary respite for them Ponty worked their way back into Bony territory and with the referee playing another penalty advantage Garyn Smith made a break and whilst being tackled gave a superb one-handed offload to the supporting Aled Evans who crashed over Ioan Evans’ conversion closed the gap to 14 points to 12 The match was now half an hour old with play on halfway Bony were in possession but brilliant work at the breakdown from skipper Cally James won Ponty the penalty In the aftermath of the penalty award Bonymaen blindside flanker Brandon Owens was sin-binned for dissent towards referee Joseff Rees Following the penalty the away side applied more lineout pressure in the Bony 22 only for the lineout to initially cost them again but the clearing box-kick made little ground From the resulting platform Oli Shepherd made another excellent break in midfield before a good carry from Morgan Bosanko laid the groundwork for Joe Miles to burrow over from close-range a couple of phases later The conversion was missed but Pontypridd were back into the lead 17-14 as half-time approached The home side did have the opportunity to level the scores in the dying seconds of the opening period but Lawrence Thomas’ penalty attempt drifted wide HALF TIME – Bonymaen 14-17 Pontypridd Bonymaen kicked off the second half and were awarded a penalty shortly after play got underway following a high tackle by Pontypridd Bony’s early second half pressure was repelled by some good Ponty defence both disrupting their attacking rolling mauls and via a breakdown turnover Pontypridd then won a penalty following a strong scrum set-piece which allowed them to advance upfield A few minutes later Ponty had a lineout on halfway after Lawrence Thomas kicked the ball straight out A few phases later Cally James made a superb break deep into Bony territory but his pass couldn’t find the hands of his supporting team mates and the chance went begging Joel Raikes was the next Ponty player to snipe and break as Ponty had another chance to turn pressure into points he was hauled down by Bony left-wing Harrison Doe and his team were awarded a penalty at the breakdown – another chance for Ponty had come and gone As the match approached the hour mark proceedings got a little bit scrappy a kick-tennis battle took place which Bonymaen edged and they found themselves with decent field position between Ponty’s 22 and 10-metre lines Applying pressure when Pontypridd attempted to clear their lines Bony charged down the clearing kick and with the ball bouncing up loose over the Ponty tryline it was knocked on in the process of gathering and grounding to score by the home side but the home side would not be denied and they scored a few minutes later Their rolling maul was becoming a stronger weapon as the match went on and after back-to-back penalty infringements from Ponty allowed Bony deeper field position the dam burst when unlikely recipient left-winger Harrison Doe scored at the back of the home side’s rolling maul Lawrence Thomas’ conversion was again successful and home side led 21-17 with the match now into the final quarter Attacking the car park end in the second half the next ten minutes-plus of the match took place in the left hand corner with Ponty attacking that end of the ground This period of play took a repetitive sequence events – Ponty pressure on the Bonymaen tryline kept being repelled by stoic defence by the home side or disrupted rolling mauls were a constant feature but due to Bony being unable to make any sort of meaningful ground from their clearing touch-finding kicks Pontypridd were invited to have ‘another go’ on numerous occasions Ponty had a good attacking platform from a scrum but spilled the ball in midfield when attacking But the referee was playing penalty advantage and rather than kicking to touch the away side took another scrum Ponty attacked and Bonymaen were shown another yellow card this time to replacement James Osbourne for a high tackle on Jaydan Pugh The match was now entering its final few minutes with score still standing at 21-17 to the home side Another Ponty attack proved fruitless and Bony cleared their lines deep into Ponty territory – Dale Stuckey gathered and went on a personal counter-attack but there were two knock-ons with the first going in Ponty’s favour which gave them another chance as the seconds elapsed The Valley Commandos attacked and the ball was spilled Bony were offside and Ponty drilled the kick deep into the corner From the lineout replacement hooker Rob Jones crashed over as the clock ticked over the 80-minute mark The touchline conversion was missed but Pontypridd had a one-point lead 22-21 There was time for the match to restart and the drama continued Ponty received the kick-off and cleared their lines Bonymaen attacked but knocked the ball on in contact just outside the Pontypridd 22 Ponty fed into their own scrum and went through the phases to run down more time on the clock After a few phases Dale Stuckey’s clearing kick from in his own 22 was semi-charged down Jaydan Pugh then found himself in possession of the ball and was tackled and at the resulting breakdown Bonymaen were awarded a penalty It was now definitely the last play of the match and Bony flyhalf Lawrence Thomas stepped up and his successful penalty attempt sealed a 24-22 win and sent the home side’s fans into raptures It was a disappointing finish to the contest for Pontypridd who left Parc Mawr with two bonus points as consolation for their efforts on the evening The Valley Commandos will need to quickly lick their wounds ahead of Merthyr visiting Sardis next Saturday 22nd March for what will be the biggest match of the season to date in a top-of-the-table clash FULL TIME – Bonymaen 24-22 Pontypridd (14/3/2025) Assistant Referee/Third Official: Jon Hardy A full day of brass band attractions will be on offer in Pontypridd next month A new Brass Festival will take place in Pontypridd on Saturday 17th May sported by the local Town Council and sponsors Organisers told 4BR that 'Gwyl Band Pres Pontypridd' promises to be 'brass extravaganza' with a full day of music making starting at 10.00am with a Youth Workshop for players at St Catherine's Church followed by an outdoor performance from City of Cardiff (M2) Band in Mill Street More concerts and events follow throughout the day featuring a 'Have a Go' session at the local museum and concerts by Crosskeys Silver Cathways Brass and recently crowned Welsh First Section and ConsTest champion Parc & Dare The is also a special 'Music of the Valleys' exhibition at Pontypridd Museum and a number of surprise events throughout the day 10.00am: Youth Workshop at St Catherine's Church11.30am: City of Cardiff (M2) in performance on Mill Street12.30pm: Youth Concert at St Catherine's Church 2.00pm: Crosskeys Silver at Ynysangharad Park Bandstand3.15pm: Mid Rhondda Band at Ynysangharad Park Bandstand 4.45pm: Cathays Brass at Clwb Y Bont5.45pm: Parc & Dare Band at Clwb Y Bont 7.00pm: Pit Brass play Bond at Pontypridd Museum 4barsrest continues to be a proudly independent voice There are no paywalls to overcome to be able to enjoy what we do to keep our journalism at the heart of the brass banding world Support us with a one-off donation or subscribe from just £2.50 per month May 5 • 60 bands will look to take one step closer to the British Open this weekend in Blackpool May 5 • There has both audience and critical approval in abundance after David Childs gave the world premiere of James MacMillan's Euphonium Concerto 'Where the Lugar meets the Glaisnock' in Cardiff May 5 • Granite City Brass will celebrate its 175th anniversary thanks to sponsorship from leading vehicle assessor and towbar specialists Mototech Aberdeen May 5 • The Onyx Brass quintet will join forces with Hammonds and Amersham Bands for a musical soundscape of the Halocene epoch as part of the New Music Biennial 2025 Saturday 10 May • Winter Gardens Complex May 5 • Ocean Brass are inviting applications for our Principal Cornet position as we prepare for an exciting schedule of concerts and contests in the second section through 2025 and beyond May 4 • Following a successful start to our 2025 contest season Rode Hall Band are looking for a good FRONT ROW CORNET player to join this enthusiastic friendly and progressive 3rd section band based on the Cheshire/Staffordshire border Rode Hall Band are looking for a good SOPRANO CORNET player to join this enthusiastic A brace of tries from Dale Stuckey and Joe Davies were accompanied by scores from Kristian Parker Despite late Newbridge scores from Joel Gilbert and Geraint Evans Ponty will head to the Principality Stadium on the 5th of April where they will play Cross Keys in the final Ponty opened the scoring in the fourth minute after some neat build-up play gaining inroads inside the Newbridge half the Valley Commandos struck with a short ball to fullback Dale Stuckey who broke through the initial defence to reach out and score Lucus Welch’s second attempt to clear from just outside his 22 was a clean kick and forced an error from fullback Newbridge Robbie Turley Inside centre Ioan Evans lined up a penalty attempt just inside the Newbridge half following a dominant Ponty scrum but his effort came up short which allowed the opposition to clear Ponty built up their attack for a second time in the 14th minute and it resulted in a second try this time through second row Kristian Parker who was on the receiving end of some neat passing from fly-half Pugh and prop Garyn Daniel Newbridge managed to wrestle some momentum at the end of the first quarter with a couple of penalties inside the Ponty 22 in the rolling maul referee Garerth Newman awarded a penalty against Bridge for obstruction Ponty turned defence into attack quickly moments later with further sustained pressure resulting in a third try – a pass from centre Evans evaded the final Newbridge defender and found the hands of Stuart Floyd-Ellis who crossed in the corner Newbridge were reduced to 14 players when blindside flanker Gavin Price was sent to the sinbin following multiple lineout infringements from his side Ponty crossed for their fourth try after half an hour in similar style to the Parker try with persistent build-up play inside the opposing 22 with plenty of space out-wide fly-half Pugh gathered and crossed in the corner a fifth try was scored by Ponty through centre Garyn Smith making his first start on his return from injury scored from short range giving his side a 29-0 lead at the interval HALF TIME – Newbridge 0-29 Pontypridd Pontypridd didn’t let up on the try scoring count with three tries in the opening 10 minute period of the second half The first of those went to fullback Stuckey who crossed for his second of the afternoon as Ponty once again exposed an overlap out wide following some sustained pressure Inside centre Ioan Evans crossed over to extend Ponty’s lead when he bundled over after beating a couple of defenders to score This was before wing Joe Davies marked his return to the Ponty side with a try after pouncing on a spilled ball from a Newbridge player to regather his grubber kick and score under the cross bar Ioan Evans kicked the conversion and Ponty led 46-0 after 51 minutes The Newbridge supporters that travelled to Neath for this semi-final eventually had something to cheer about when replacement Joel Gilbert scored – this was just after Ponty were reduced to 14 players a couple of minutes earlier following a yellow card to Lloyd Riley for dissent In the 66th minute Joe Davies picked up his second try of the afternoon Ponty’s attack consistently narrowed the Newbridge defence and the wing beat a couple of defenders to make the conversion a little easier Davies’ try and Pugh’s conversion pushed Ponty’s score past the half century mark on the scoreboard Newbridge continued to show plenty of heart and were rewarded when they scored the final try of the match when replacement prop Geraint Evans scored from close range in the game’s final play A second conversion from fullback Turley signalled the final whistle from referee Gareth Newman to close the game Ponty return to league action when they travel to face Bonymaen on Friday 14th March before welcoming Merthyr to Sardis Road a week later FULL TIME – Newbridge 14-53 Pontypridd (1/3/2025) Assistant Referee/Third Official: Stuart Vaudin As the dust settles on Pontypridd United’s comeback win over Connah’s Quay Nomads in the Genero Adran Leagues promotion play-off manager Claire O’Sullivan has hailed her side’s resilience After conceding two quick goals at the end of the first half but O’Sullivan always had the belief that her team could turn things around To come back from being 2-0 down at half time which probably came against the run of play as well We knew we had to score three goals to win the game but as soon as we came out and scored early I thought if we got the next one that there would only be one winner.”  On a number of occasions in the first half they were denied by Molly France she was disappointed with how they acted towards the end of the half “We knew as a team we didn’t perform well in that first half We switched off for ten minutes at the end of the half but we had to make tactical changes and the break and we knew the odds were against us But I believe in this team and when we put our minds to something Nicole Fenton and Quianna Wheeler scored the all-important goals to seal promotion the feeling of seeing the third goal go in was indescribable I’ve got no words to describe when that third goal went in who was making her first appearance for the club since October to score with her first touch after coming on as a substitute at half-time “I’m so pleased for Shannon,” O’Sullivan said “This was the first squad she had been in since October when she picked up a really bad knee injury She’s been working so hard to get back into the squad but she’s the club captain and she always leads by example.” it was the perfect send off for Maddie Williams who has skippered Pontypridd in Hindmarsh’s absence this season but will be departing in the summer “We’re losing Maddie next season because she’s moving away but that’s the way you leave a club,” O’Sullivan added “It was all very emotional at the end While there is excitement about what next season could hold all the focus for Ponty is on celebrating and coming back against all the odds “We’re looking forward to being back in the Adran Premier and playing against some of the biggest sides in the country again we’re going to go and celebrate and enjoy ourselves.”  Pontypridd United promoted to Genero Adran Premier after stunning second half comeback Pontypridd United celebrate their return to the Adran Premier Pontypridd United sealed an immediate return to the Genero Adran Premier with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory against Connah's Quay Nomads in the promotion play-off final at Latham Park in Newtown Polly Wild-McGregor put the Genero Adran North champions ahead before Poppy Kendrick-Jones doubled Nomads' lead before half-time Shannon Hindmarsh pulled a goal back for Ponty soon after the restart but it took until 10 minutes from time for Nicole Fenton to find an equaliser Just a minute later the comeback was complete when Quianna Wheeler converted Emily Poole's cross to send Ponty back to the top flight after just a season's absence replacing Cardiff Met who have 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Substitutions proved key as Pontypridd United lifted the Bute Energy U16s Cup after a 2-1 victory over last season’s winners Cardiff Wanderers Ayla Harris was introduced at the break for Ponty and found the opening goal on 56 minutes There was an immediate response from Wanderers however as Hope Rees equalised six minutes later 14-year-old Ene Audu would prove to be the hero for Pontypridd as she came off the bench in the 66th minute and scored the winning goal just a minute later really close game,” Pontypridd United coach Louisa Hayhurst said it was exciting and I’m just so proud of the resilience that we showed to shut them down because we know that they’re phenomenal in what they do That’s the first time since under 10s that we’ve ever beaten Cardiff Wanderers “We’ve got girls today who have played in the under 19s then we’ve got Libby Emanuel who was on the pitch in the Adran South last week which shows that this pathway is working.” The New Saints come from behind to take Nomads crown in JD Welsh Cup final Project Chwarae: FAW to undertake a review of weather-related postponements in grassroots football Cardiff City defeat Wrexham to lift Bute Energy Welsh Cup © 2025 The Football Association of Wales The Premiership Cup final between Ponty and Keys will be the last of three showpiece finals played on the day All ticket and supporters travel information will be released in due course Saturday will be Ponty’s first visit to Pandy Park since 8th May 2019 and the Valley Commandos will be hoping for the same outcome as that evening – Dale Stuckey bagged two tries to earn a 24-7 win Earlier this season the two teams met in the league at Sardis and Pontypridd won 43-31 but they had to dig deep after falling behind 19-0 in the first half present times and of course the two clubs met just seven days ago at the Principality Stadium in the Welsh Premiership Cup final Last Saturday will count for absolutely nothing as Pontypridd head to one of the toughest grounds in the country against a team looking to avenge last week’s loss in the capital Last Saturday’s bruising encounter has taken its toll on Pontypridd and as a result there have been seven changes to last week’s Cup Final starting XV one positional switch and no fewer than five new faces have come onto the substitutes bench In the backline it’s all change on the wings with Sam Talbot and Jude Williams being drafted in for starts and there’s also a new half-back pairing – Messrs Welch and Pugh start at 9 and 10 In the forwards two of the three changes come in the front row with Jeffrey Young starting at hooker whilst Morgan Bosanko is drafted in to start at loosehead prop The other personnel change in the pack sees Will Jameson start at blindside flanker The new faces amongst the replacements are Kian Mattravers Niall Moore and Ethan Evans are both on permit from the Cardiff Rugby academy – Ethan was on the bench at Brecon a fortnight ago but didn’t appear The other new face is Rhodri Smith who is on permit from neighbouring club Cilfynydd RFC Rhod is another member of the Smith Family Dynasty who have all represented Pontypridd RFC – one of Garyn’s younger brothers in the past he has played for Ponty in pre-season matches and has been on the bench for the Club in a league game Unavailable for Saturday because of injury are Cai James Oli Shepherd and Joe Miles – the latter carrying a niggle Away on leave are Ben Stephens and Joe Davies For fans who have booked travel on the sold out Pontypridd Supporters Club bus Phil Lycett’s contact number is 01443 662561 the match at the Lewis Lloyd Ground kicks off at 2:30pm Saturday’s match will be only the third time the two clubs have met over the years The two prior meetings between the Valley Commandos and The Otters came at Sardis Road back on Saturday 14th January 2006 and earlier this season on Saturday 12th October 2024 – Ponty won both of those encounters Last weekend Ponty won a bruising contest away at Newbridge to maintain their place at the top of the league Despite that defeat The Otters’ home form has been good prior to that either side of the New Year – in their last match of 2024 they won against Newcastle Emlyn and in their first game of 2025 they triumphed against Ystrad Rhondda – both of these wins coming at the Lewis Lloyd Ground With another tough away match on the cards for Pontypridd the team are lucky that once again there’s a large travelling contingent of Ponty fanatics heading to West Wales this Saturday – the Ponty Supporters Club are taking two buses full of supporters on top of everyone else who are making their own way to Pembrokeshire – safe travels to all Pontypridd are counting the cost of a number of injuries sustained over the last couple of weeks and as a result three changes have been made to the starting XV that ran out at the Welfare Ground last Saturday There are a further three new faces on the bench and at the time of writing this they are accompanied by two ‘An Others’ whilst the Coaching Team await fitness news The three changes to the starting line-up all come in the backs with Oli Shepherd starting at fullback Jacob Symes at outside half whilst George Thorrington makes his first start for the Club at outside centre The pack remain unchanged from last weekend Lloyd Riley and Ben Drew are recalled after recovering from injuries whilst the third is Jude Williams who will make his Ponty debut should he appear off the bench *EDIT: We are also very pleased to welcome into the matchday squad Morgan Edwards and Noah Davey Morgan is linked to Llantwit Fardre and made his debut for Ponty against Bonymaen earlier in the season Noah Davey is a backrower who is on permit from Beddau RFC and he could make his club bow from the bench Cai James and Stuart Floyd-Ellis in the injury treatment room are Dale Stuckey Also unavailable are Charlie Morgan-Stephens who is away on leave and Morgan Bosanko Morgan is unavailable due to the recent birth of his son Macsen Everyone at Pontypridd RFC would like to send huge congratulations to Morgan and his partner Molly on their new arrival – fantastic news The Pontypridd team selected to play Narberth is as follows: Both Pontypridd Supporters Club’s trips are leaving Sardis Road at 10:30am and should it be required Carparking at Narberth’s ground is very limited but as you drive into the town there is a large Primary School carpark on your right hand side which is approximately 400 yards from the Lewis Lloyd Ground – we have been told by the host club that this is the best place to park for the match The postcode for Narberth’s ground is SA67 7BT the match at Sardis Road will kick-off at 2:30pm Ponty and The Archers met earlier in the season back on Saturday 19th October at Cyncoed Campus and it was the Valley Commandos who enjoyed a 42-12 bonus-point win in the balmy autumn sunshine in the capital Pontypridd remain at the summit of the Premiership standings following a 43-31 win against Cross Keys at Sardis Road last Friday evening That victory means it’s now eight league wins in a row but with Merthyr and Neath breathing down their necks Pontypridd will know only a win will do this Saturday against 7th placed Cardiff Met who have won two out of their last three league matches For the second week in a row there are multiple changes in the Pontypridd starting XV – six in the starting line-up with five positional switches on top of that There are also two new faces on the bench as injuries and unavailability continue to play their part in the selection of the matchday squad The three new faces in the backline are Oli Shepherd at fullback Stuart Floyd-Ellis at outside centre and Joel Raikes at scrum half Shepherd’s recall sees Dale Stuckey switch from fullback to the left wing which in turn means Louis Rochefort-Shugar moves to the right wing Floyd-Ellis returns from injury to start at outside centre allowing Ioan Evans move to inside centre The three personnel changes in the forwards are Rob Jones at hooker The positional reshuffle comes in the back row with last week’s no.8 Lloyd Riley moving to blindside flanker and Kristian Parker moving to openside flanker On the bench there are recalls to the matchday squad for Garyn Daniel and Jude Williams whilst club captain Cally James has joined brother Cai and Garyn Smith in the treatment room Saturday’s team will be co-captained by Joel Raikes and Dale Stuckey and Mitch Barnard will make his 50th appearance for the Valley Commandos when he runs out this week – congratulations Mitch The Pontypridd team selected to play Cardiff Met is as follows: Saturday will see the second instalment of the two teams competing for the John Pugh Memorial Shield John was a former Pro-Vice Chancellor and Chairman of Cardiff Met RFC for over 30 years and before that an ex-Pontypridd player who passed away in October 2023 – Ponty are the current holders of this piece of silverware following our win at Cyncoed last October Tickets – Admission on Saturday will be £12 full, £10 concession access-all-areas and under 16’s free if accompanied by a paying adult. You can purchase tickets on the day or to save time (which is recommended to miss the queues) you can use our online e-Ticket system, here’s the link which includes all our different packages – Pontypridd v Cardiff Met – 15/2/2025 Sponsors Day – This Saturday is one of the Club’s designated Sponsors Days when we celebrate and thank all the businesses that are currently onboard supporting Pontypridd RFC – This Saturday is Sponsors Day Former Players Association AGM –  This will take place in the Bob Penberthy Clubhouse Lounge and will commence at 12:30pm – Former Players Association AGM – Saturday 15th February Live Sport In The Clubhouse – Our Clubhouse will be from midday onwards and we will be showing the following live sport on the screens – Leicester City v Arsenal in the Premier League (12:30pm) Harlequins v Saracens in the English Premiership Cup (3:05pm) and Munster v Scarlets in the URC (5:15pm) The two teams’ first ever encounter was earlier this season on Saturday 16th November at Sardis Road There wasn’t much between the two sides as the match approached the 50-minute mark that afternoon with a James Dixon penalty narrowing the scores to 17-11 But as the match approached the hour Garyn Daniel burrowed over to put clear daylight between the teams before Ponty cut loose in the final quarter scoring some cracking tries to eventually seal a 43-11 win Pontypridd will be looking to get back on the winning trail this week to keep their Premiership title ambitions alive But that will require a full 80-minute performance against 5th placed Brecon who have won four out of their last five Premiership matches including winning the last three on the bounce There are four changes and a positional switch to the XV that started last Saturday’s match against Merthyr and there’s also a new face on the bench who could make his Ponty debut In the forwards there’s rotation amongst the props with Ben Drew and Garyn Daniel coming into the starting line-up In the backs there are returns to the team for Lucus Welch at scrum-half and Joe Davies on the wing – Joe’s selection sees Dale Stuckey move from wing to fullback On the bench the only new face not involved in last week’s matchday squad is young backrower Ethan Evans Ethan is on permit from the Cardiff Rugby Academy and will make his debut if he comes on during the contest Unavailable for selection is Cai James who is still on the road to recovery from his current injury The Pontypridd team selected to play Brecon is as follows: For those of you who have booked travel to the match with the Pontypridd Supporters Club the bus will be departing Sardis Road at 11:30am If anyone requires any information please phone Phil Lycett on 01443 662561 The postcode for Brecon’s ground is LD3 7HH Pontypridd United manager Claire O’Sullivan certainly had a tricky job on her hands last summer After being relegated from the Genero Adran Premier in the summer and instead chose to recruit plenty of young players to try and help her team get back to the top tier whether that be with Wales age groups or in my coaching role at Coleg Y Cymoedd,” she said “I enjoy working with young players because they are receptive to anything and generally it’s a really good group to work with “It wasn’t something I specifically set out to get but we lost about nine or ten players in the summer brought players in from other U19 teams like Quianna Wheeler but working with such a young group has been great.” this young team has matured and have put in professional performance after professional performance this Ponty side held their nerve to win the three-horse race for the Genero Adran South title; a sign of how much this team have grown “The young players have really enjoyed it this season,” O’Sullivan says “Our training sessions are always high tempo They are at an age where they don’t really fear anybody whether it’s an Adran South game or against Wrexham in the cup they want to have a go and play against the best players which is great to see from a coach’s point of view.” The only remaining challenge standing between Pontypridd and a top-flight return is Connah’s Quay Nomads The Genero Adran North champions cantered to the title by winning all 14 of their league games but O’Sullivan isn’t paying much attention to that but I do know some of the players there through the Welsh Colleges programme We know they’ve gone unbeaten this season; they score lots of goals We’ve had a very competitive and tough season so probably Connah’s Quay Nomads are the favourites for the game on paper “I don’t really focus massively on the opposition If we can have a little look at them and see how they play we will obviously take notice of it but ultimately with the group of players I have it’s all about us and how we can affect the game If we play our game and do it to the best of our ability we will have a very good chance of winning and returning to the Adran Premier.” And Pontypridd certainly haven’t taken the easy route to get to Newtown The Genero Adran South has been incredibly competitive the Dragons have faced both Aberystwyth Town and Wrexham something O’Sullivan believes will help her players no end “Our games this season will help us out massively on Sunday and I tell them most weeks they have to be competing and have to be tested against the best players They are desperate to get back into the Adran Premier and they cannot wait to get the game underway on Sunday.” Sometimes before such a pivotal game it’s easy to let the mind wonder to what could potentially happen The manager is fully focused on how to best prepare her side for Sunday I always want to win every game of football; however it’s been about how the team has developed all season It was a must for us to win the Adran South I’m just focused on making sure the girls are prepared as possible * We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data – view our privacy policy by clicking here A new festival celebrating the south Wales valleys’ rich brass band traditions is taking place in multiple locations across Pontypridd town centre this May Organised by the Pontypridd Brass Band Festival team in partnership with Pontypridd Town Council the Festival will present a varied programme including a learner workshop a film night and an opportunity to come and try out a range of brass instruments from the smallest to the largest The festival will officially kick-off Pontypridd Town Council’s summer-long Tymor yr Haf season with events taking place throughout the area from May – August Festival fringe events will begin with The Siglo Section an 18-piece powerhouse revitalising the big band tradition who will be performing on Sunday May 11 at Clwb y Bont ‘Brassed Off’ will follow on Thursday May 15 at the same venue The festival itself will begin on Saturday May 17 showcasing a range of brass bands from across South Wales composed of musicians from the Royal Corps of Army Music lead the way with a learners workshop in the morning followed by a lunchtime concert with the learners in St Music will ring out across the town throughout the day with events at multiple venues including Clwb y Bont the iconic Bandstand in Ynysangharad War Memorial Park and the Mill Street Quarter Local composer Dave Collins has written a new fanfare to ‘Mae Hen Wlad fy Nhadau’ to mark the 120th anniversary of the national anthem’s first performance at a rugby match The new fanfare will feature in some bands’ performances during the day Anyone thinking of getting into playing brass can pop into Pontypridd Museum in the afternoon where there will be an opportunity to try out a full range of instruments with tutors from local bands as well as staff from RCT Music Service Information on where learner bands are based and when they meet as well as contacts for bands looking for older players to come back to banding and start playing again will also be available The Festival closes in the evening with a special finale concert at Pontypridd Museum when PITBrass presents Chair of the Pontypridd Brass Band Festival organsing team Julian Boyce said: “We’re excited to bring this new festival to Pontypridd “We hope that the bands enjoy performing and visitors to the town enjoy listening too we hope to build on the legacy of the Eisteddfod and bring even more music and entertainment to the town.’ Cllr Lynda Davies from Pontypridd Town Council said: “We’re delighted to support this wonderful new event “The Pontypridd Brass Band Festival will be a fantastic addition to the town’s cultural events What better way to begin our Tymor yr Haf Season than by trumpeting our proud musical heritage!” festival poster and map of festival events and venues has been created by local artist Becky Davies with tickets for the Siglo Section concert costing £12 and the screening of ‘Brassed Off’ costing £4 The full festival programme and event tickets are available here Pontypridd Brass Band Festival sponsors include: Pontypridd Town Council For updates, follow on Instagram Despite tries Joe Davies and George Thorrington, Narberth led midway through the second half, before two Jacob Symes penalties were the difference for the visitors against a resilient Otters side. Ponty flew out of the blocks in the opening minute when centre Ioan Evans identified that the Narberth defence was narrow, he looped a pass to outside centre George Thorrington who ran out from his own 22. Thorrington passed to wing Joe Davies who beat multiple defenders out wide to score. The conversion from fly-half Jacob Symes drifted wide but the visitors had an early lead. The hosts managed to string some phases together after conceding the early try with some encouraging play down the left side, but when the ball was worked back across to the right wing to fullback Lewellyn Jones, he dropped it to give the visitors a scrum. With the Otters still looking to play with plenty of possession, some stern Ponty defence forced a box-kick which was charged down by lock Ieuan Davies before a kick from Symes forced the hosts deep into their 22 – the tricky bouncing ball forced a knock on by Narberth fly-half Osian Evans. But despite the attacking platform, a knock on from centre Thorrington off a first phase move saw the end of the attack. With a penalty kick to the corner from Symes failing to find touch, a poor clearing kick from fullback Jones provided a chance for a Ponty attack, with a powerful rolling maul gaining another penalty which rumbled into the hosts’ 22.  But after multiple forward carries the Narberth defence held out. The Otters worked their way back up into Ponty territory and were playing with a penalty advantage, and there would have been a try for replacement Hedd Nicholas, but he was deemed to be standing in front of the cross-field kick from fly-half Evans. Eventually the home side did cross for their first points of the afternoon through inside centre Harrison Griffiths when he broke through the Ponty defence with a hard line to score underneath the crossbar. The simple conversion from Evans gave his side the lead after 33 minutes. A few minutes later a grubber kick from Ioan Evans took a deflection into touch which gave his team some field position, but the resulting lineout was spilled giving the hosts a chance to clear. In the half’s final play, Narberth continued to press inside the Ponty 22, and despite the visitors pushing them backwards with some big collisions, Osian Evans dropped back into to the pocket and kicked a drop goal which pleased the home supporters as they went to the interval leading 10-5. HALF TIME – Narberth 10-5 Pontypridd Ponty were penalised for offside early in the second half and despite a break from centre Griffiths, referee Carwyn Sion went back to the original penalty award and Narberth pointed to the posts. Osian Evans struck it well but the attempt drifted wide. The discipline from the visitors hadn’t improved during the second half and they gave another chance to the hosts inside the 22 following a penalty award, but Ponty held out with some solid defence to clear their lines. A chance came for Pontypridd through a scrum inside the Narberth 22 after a break from Joe Davies and some sustained attacks, but Symes’ kick behind the defence went over the dead ball line. Ponty had another spell in attack when Louis Rochefort-Shugar broke through midfield, the ball went wide to captain Cally James who passed to wing Davies but he was stopped short. But then the visitors exploited an overlap on the other side of the field and George Thorrington beat a defender to score. A breakdown infringement from Narberth on replacement Lucus Welch gave Ponty an opportunity in the final quarter when Symes got his first points of the day with a well struck penalty to give his side the lead 13-10 after 67 minutes. With the clock ticking into the final 10 minutes, Welch was penalised for offside, with replacement Jonathan Rogers levelling the scores with a long-distance penalty. There were now only a few minutes left and Ponty were awarded another penalty after a lineout infringement, a kick from Ioan Evans put the visitors in a great position before the home side were pinged in the maul after a clean lineout take from Mitch Barnard. Symes kicked his side in front with a second penalty following a deliberate knock on before some solid game management from replacement Lucus Welch gave his side territory, which was enough to win the game. Following two away matches in the league, Ponty return to Sardis Road on Friday February 7th when they welcome Cross Keys in a rescheduled Welsh Premiership fixture with the game kicking off at 7:30pm. FULL TIME – Narberth 13-16 Pontypridd (1/2/2025) 15. Oli Shepherd. 14. Joe Davies. 13. George Thorrington. 12. Ioan Evans. 11. Louis Rochefort-Shugar. 10. Jacob Symes. 9. Joel Raikes (Lucus Welch). 1. Ben Stephens (Ben Drew). 2. Rob Jones (Jeff Young). 3. Garyn Daniel (Kian Mattravers). 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Ieuan Davies (Lloyd Riley). 6. Kristian Parker. 7. Cally James (c). 8. Joe Miles (Noah Davey). Subs: 16. Jeff Young. 17. Ben Drew. 18. Kian Mattravers. 19. Lloyd Riley. 20. Noah Davey. 21. Lucus Welch. 22. Morgan Edwards. 23. Jude Williams. 15. Llew Jones. 14. Lewys Gibby. 13. Matthew John. 12. Harrison Griffiths. 11. Geraint Llewellyn. 10. Osian Evans. 9. Alex Williams. 1. Tom Kaijaks. 2. Tom Clarke. 3. Ryan Rees. 4. Will Blackburn. 5. Sam Martin. 6. Josh Hamer. 7. Tom Powell. 8. Caleb Salmon. Subs: 16. Rob Evans. 17. Ricky Guest. 18. Guto Jones. 19. Rhys Williams. 20. Sam Davies. 21. Roy Osborn. 22. Jonathan Rogers. 23. Hedd Nicholas. The match got underway and the visitors attempted to open the scoring in the first three minutes, but a penalty from Steff Marshall went wide. Ponty got their first try of the match after they exposed the blindside of the visitors with some neat handling from captain Cally James and Joe Miles who put wing Iwan Griffith into space, and he ran in to score a debut try. The hosts created a second chance moments later through a powerful carry from centre Ioan Evans, Lucus Welch picked from the breakdown as the Llangennech defence failed to reorganise and the scrum half ran in for a second try of the afternoon. The conversion from fly-half Jaydan Pugh was successful, giving the home side a 12-0 lead after 10 minutes. Ponty kept their momentum going in the opening 20 minutes with a third try from blindside flanker Lloyd Riley who powered over from short range. Pugh’s extras was successful. Llangennech supporters did have something to shout about in the 25th minute after a well worked try from outside centre Kalum Evans who cut a lovely line through the Ponty defence of Evans and Griffith to score. The four try bonus point was wrapped up after half an hour when Welch was at hand to score his second of the afternoon following a break from second row Kristian Parker down the wing. Jaydan Pugh’s third successful conversion made it 26 points to 7. Moments before halftime, Ponty second row Mitch Barnard was shown a yellow card following an offside infringement less than five meters from the tryline. In the half’s final play, the visitors struck for a second time after a rolling maul was pulled down illegally by the home side. Llan tighthead prop Richard Bassett burrowed over from short range to score, with Marshall’s conversion taking the teams into the interval with Ponty leading 26-14. The second half kicked off and despite having a player disadvantage, Ponty opened the scoring when Iwan Griffith, now playing in the centre, picked up his second in the corner after an overlap which saw the forwards and backs combining. A few minutes later, Griffith picked up his hat-trick after coming onto the ball at pace to break through the Llan defence to score under the crossbar with Ponty breaking out from inside their own half in the build-up. Jaydan Pugh’s conversion made the score 38-14 after 51 minutes. The hosts were looking for try number seven but ended up conceding an interception from the opposition tryline when replacement Will Thomas picked off a pass from Ponty replacement Jacob Symes. Despite a chase from George Thorrington, the replacement managed to dot down for his team’s third try. Ponty’s hunt for a seventh try didn’t last too long after an acrobatic finish from replacement Louis Rochefort-Shugar in the left corner was converted by Symes. Replacement prop Kian Mattravers crashed over in the final few minutes to take Ponty over the half century mark, with Symes adding a second conversion – 52-21 after 76 minutes. The visitors didn’t give up in their pursuit of a bonus point and picked it up through outside centre Kalum Evans who bagged his second after breaking through with a show and go. With the clock ticking close to the 80th minute, there was still time for two late Ponty scores. Rochefort-Shugar picked up his second of the afternoon, before the final try was scored by Joel Raikes who was on hand to support a Jeff Young linebreak. The final conversion from Symes was the final act of a highly entertaining contest which ended 66-28 to the hosts. Pontypridd will head to Newbridge next weekend on January 25th in their next Welsh Premiership fixture. FULL TIME: Pontypridd 66-28 Llangennech (18/1/2025) 15. Dale Stuckey. 14. Joe Davies (George Thorrington). 13. Stuart Floyd-Ellis (Louis Rochefort-Shugar). 12. Ioan Evans. 11. Iwan Griffith. 10. Jaydan Pugh (Jacob Symes). 9. Lucus Welch (Joel Raikes). 1. Ben Drew (Kian Mattravers). 2. Rob Jones (Jeff Young). 3. Garyn Daniel (Morgan Bosanko). 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Kristian Parker. 6. Lloyd Riley. 7. Cally James (c). 8. Joe Miles (Ieuan Davies). Subs: 16. Jeff Young. 17. Kian Mattravers. 18. Morgan Bosanko. 19. Ieuan Davies. 20. George Thorrington. 21. Joel Raikes. 22. Jacob Symes. 23. Louis Rochefort-Shugar. Tries: Iwan Griffith x 3, Lucus Welch x 2, Lloyd Riley, Louis Rochefort-Shugar x 2, Kian Mattravers, Joel Raikes Conversions: Jaydan Pugh x 4, Jacob Symes x 4 15. Luke Davies. 14. Eray Wilson. 13. Kalum Evans. 12. Ryan Davies. 11. Harrison Button. 10. Steff Marshall. 9. Gareth George. 1. Iestyn Jones. 2. Finn Thomas. 3. Richard Bassett. 4. Jordan Evans. 5. Ryan Morgans. 6. Keanu Evans. 7. Shaun Edwards (c). 8. Taine Morgan. Subs: 16. Luke Williams. 17. Tom Phillips. 18. Brandon Lee. 19. Kieran Allen. 20. Finlay Cooke. 21. Tom Morgan. 22. Wil Thomas. 23. Josh Edwards. Tries: Kalum Evans x 2, Richard Bassett, Wil Thomas Golden Bob Man of the Match: Iwan Griffith Saturday’s match will be Ponty’s first visit to The Welfare Ground since 27th January 2007 when the two teams met in the Welsh Cup The last league meeting between the two clubs at Newbridge’s home was even longer ago than that when on 30/4/2005 the Valley Commandos came away with a 51 points to 14 win in the Premiership Ponty and Newbridge renewed their rivalry earlier this season at Sardis Road – on Saturday 28th September three tries from the home side sealed a 22-0 win during the early weeks of the season The months have passed and this weekend’s match pits 10th against 1st in the current standings Newbridge will be looking for the win that will propel them up the Premiership table whilst Pontypridd will be looking to continue their winning run knowing that both Neath and Merthyr are right on their tails The Valley Commandos will be well prepared for the challenge that Newbridge will bring following their very late defeat at the Gnoll last Saturday Ponty have made four changes to the starting XV that triumphed against Llangennech last week – two each in both the forwards and backs and there’s another two new faces on the bench In the backs there are returns for Joel Raikes at scrum-half and Louis Rochefort-Shugar on the wing the switch sees last weeks’ debutant Iwan Griffith move from the wing to outside centre In the forwards Ben Stephens is drafted back into the starting line-up at prop and Ieuan Davies who also made his debut last week off the bench starts in the second-row Player-Head Coach Kristian Parker moves out of the second-row and into the back-row On the bench the two new faces in the matchday squad are Oli Shepherd and backrower Lloyd Jones Unavailable for selection through injury are Garyn Smith The Pontypridd team selected to play Newbridge is as follows: The Pontypridd Supporters Club are organising travel for fans to the match the bus will leave Sardis Road at 1:00pm ahead of the 2:30pm kick-off The bus will then depart Newbridge for Pontypridd at 5:30pm As always Phil Lycett’s number is 01443 662561 The postcode for Newbridge’s ground is NP11 5FR THE PONTYPRIDD PENDRAGONS ANNIVERSARY EVENT – The Supporters Bus will be arriving back at Sardis Road at around 6:00pm – this will be just in time for the Pontypridd Pendragons One Year Anniversary event in the Clubhouse which all supporters are invited to. Please see our recent article which has all the key information for this – Come and Celebrate with the Pendragons Pontypridd United have the opportunity to return to the Genero Adran Premier at the first time of asking on Sunday and it’s something the team don’t want to let slide by The Genero Adran South has certainly been a test for Claire O’Sullivan’s side and when Ponty lost 6-2 to Cascade in the penultimate game of the season some may have questioned their title chances But defender Shannon Hindmarsh praised the team’s response to that defeat to clinch top spot on the final day of the season against Llanelli Town and to be pushed towards those very last games was a real test for us It has been a really difficult season in that sense with how competitive the league has been “The Cascade game just wasn’t our day at the office Fair play to Cascade because they put on a really good show and they have a lot of experience it was just a bad day for us and a good day for them.  reflect on that game and then bounce back a week later and win against Llanelli and play the way we did shows how much we’ve grown as a team this season we have the opportunity to finish the job.” Young players have been key to the Dragons’ success this season but perhaps the star performer has been Nicole Fenton Her eleven goals in the league won her the Golden Boot while her six assists were second highest in the division “Nicole is still a young player and she’s still gaining a lot of experience playing at this level but you can tell just how talented she is,” Hindmarsh says “She’s always involved in the action and that’s why her stats are what they are this season because she’s always looking to create opportunities for the team.” The only thing standing in Pontypridd’s way from returning to the top-flight are Connah’s Quay Nomads.The Genero Adran North champions have won all 14 of their league games on their way to Sunday’s play-off and Hindmarsh knows her side won’t have it all their own way but is relishing the chance of ending the Nomads’ long unbeaten run “Obviously Connah’s Quay have gone unbeaten this season so we know it’s not going to be a walk in the park by any means It’s going to be a really competitive game and they’re going to want promotion just as much as we will but we have to be mindful that it’s not going to be an easy game.  “We definitely see their unbeaten run as more of a challenge that we relish rather than something we fear I don’t know what the Adran North is like personally but a few of our players have played there before and have said maybe it’s not as competitive as the Adran South But it’s certainly a good challenge to face a team who are in good form.” Hindmarsh says it would be a chance to silence their critics it would be a reward for all the hard work they’ve put in this season We’ve had a really hard season on and off the pitch and we want to prove people wrong from last season who said we weren’t going to have a good season and that we wouldn’t bounce back We’re hoping we can perform Sunday and produce the goods.” XFASTINDEX Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has appointed Horan Construction to redevelop the Marks & Spencer site at 97-102 Taff Street in Pontypridd  having The site has been earmarked for development as part of the Southern Gateway redevelopment in Pontypridd – with the area demolished last year in preparation A ‘riverside plaza’ has been formally proposed for the site to provide a functional public space and open the townscape towards the river for the first time in more than 100 years The majority of the site will be raised out of the flood zone A lane leading to a park will also have enhanced resurfacing and street lighting Cardiff-based Horan Construction will undertake site mobilisation this month with the main construction phase due to start in February The project is scheduled for completion in early 2026 Funding includes contributions from the Welsh government’s Transforming Towns Programme (£3.68m) and the UK government’s Shared Prosperity Fund (£1.95m) Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s cabinet member for development and prosperity said: “Securing more than £5.6m funding for the construction phase are important milestones to revitalise the former M&S and Dorothy Perkins site in Pontypridd the council and its contractor are making the final preparations for the works to be started in the weeks ahead “The strategic site in the heart of Pontypridd presents a unique opportunity to expand and open up the southern part of the town centre – and the original idea of creating a ‘riverside plaza’ was very well received when we previously consulted with the public on how best to utilise the site Since cabinet received the most-recent update in summer 2024 important work to further develop the proposals has continued led by the council-appointed multi-disciplinary team “The M&S development will aim to complement what has already been achieved at the former Bingo Hall site – creating a bright open space and incorporating features such as areas of greenery and food/drink kiosks This bigger space is also intended to be flexible and ready to be utilised when required – for example It will also have the scenic backdrop of the river and views across Ynysangharad War Memorial Park “Both the M&S and Bingo Hall sites are important parts of the Southern Gateway vision within the Pontypridd Placemaking Plan – which is the wider blueprint for regeneration investment across the town It aims to build on the momentum that has already been created in recent years through flagship schemes such as the Llys Cadwyn development and various improvements across the park.” Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk 13 hours Following a recent expansion into North America, Murphy Group has now entered Australia. 3 days A Devon housing development has emerged as the centre of a web of corruption. 13 hours Controversial government plans to allow developers to pay into a central nature levy to offset local environmental harms are generating increasing opposition. 3 days Dolphin Living has appointed The Hill Group to deliver the redevelopment of the New Era housing estate in Hackney. 3 days Tilbury Douglas continues to progress after collapse of parent company 3 days John Sisk & Son has started work on a £65m refurbishment of Haringey Civic Centre in London. © 2025 The Construction Index [Company No ' + response[i].created_nice + ' ' + response[i].description + ' Pontypridd RFC is a semi-professional rugby union club playing in the Welsh Premiership and competing in the National Cup The club proudly represents the communities surrounding the market town of Pontypridd and the Rhondda Clwb Rygbi’r Undeb lled-broffesiynnol yw Pontypridd sy’n chwarae yn Uwch-adran Cymru ac sy’n cystadlu am y Cwpan Cenedlaethol Mae’r clwb yn falch i gynrychioli’r cymunedau o amgylch tref farchnad Pontypridd a chymoedd Rhondda Polisi Iaith / Language Policy About      Read all about the goings on at Pontypridd rugby club Saturday 1st March at the Lextan Gnoll home of Neath RFC and kicks off at 2:30pm Saturday’s Semi-Final will be a repeat of when the two clubs met at the same stage of the competition on Saturday 14th April 2012 at Cardiff Arms Park Newbridge were in the division below Ponty at that time but it was a close-fought affair which the Valley Commandos edged by 28 points to 24 As the teams prepare for this week’s match they will have the advantage of knowing what to expect having played in each other twice in the Premiership this season Pontypridd may have achieved a ‘league-double’ over the men from The Welfare Ground but what unfolded in the matches highlights the competitive nature of both contests On Saturday 28th September Ponty won by 22 points to 0 at Sardis Road with Newbridge proving to be gutsy opponents early on in the season Then just last month on Saturday 25th January in a match that could have gone either way it was Ponty that ground out the win 30-22 despite being outscored four tries to three by our hosts From previous league encounters to current Cup runs and there’s a certain similarity to the teams’ paths to the Semi-Final stage Both Pontypridd and Newbridge were two of the three clubs that received byes for the first round and went straight through to the second round stage In the second round both clubs were drawn away from home Ponty triumphed with a last-kick-of-the-match win away at Bargoed whilst Newbridge won 32-22 away at Dale McIntosh’s Brecon The winner of this Saturday’s Gnoll semi-final will face the winners of either Cross Keys or Merthyr who face off in the other tie and as usual the team will be relying on your magnificent support this weekend Phil Lycett’s contact number is 01443 662561 The host club, Neath RFC, have pre-match hospitality available for supporters. You can check out the packages available and/or purchase your match tickets via the following link which takes you to their official website – MATCH DAY HOSPITALITY – NEATH v PONTYPRIDD For Ponty Fans making your own way to the ground the postcode required for your sat-navs is SA11 3BU the Admiral Premiership match kicks off at 7:30pm Friday will be Ponty’s maiden visit to Parc Mawr with all three prior matches between the two clubs having taken place at Sardis Road The Valley Commandos triumphed 47-7 against Bony in early November last year and since that encounter the two clubs campaigns have taken different paths – Pontypridd are fighting for the Premiership title whilst Bonymaen are fighting hard for Premiership survival and therefore neither will be taking a backward step come Friday evening Another large travelling contingent of Pontypridd support is expected to head west into Swansea on Friday make sure you bring your voices #PontyFans This week’s match is Ponty’s first since the Welsh Cup semi-final a fortnight ago and there’s no fewer than eight changes and three positional switches to the starting XV that took to the field against Newbridge at The Gnoll on St As well as the starting line-up there’s also a new face on the bench as well There are four new faces in the forwards including an all-new front row – up front Kian Mattravers The other change in the pack sees Ponty Youth captain Aled Evans start at blindside flanker following his debut appearance off the bench in the cup semi-final In the backline there are starts in the XV for Oli Shepherd at fullback Jude Williams on the left wing and Joel Raikes at scrum-half The three positional switches sees Stuart Floyd-Ellis switch from wing to outside-centre and Garyn Smith moving inside him to 12 The other tweak to the line-up is Ioan Evans lining up for a first start of the season at flyhalf Ioan is familiar to this position having switched into it during matches throughout the current campaign On the bench there’s a recall to the matchday squad for prop Dan Cotterell Unavailable for selection through injury are Cai James Ieuan Davies and Garyn Daniel – the latter nursing a niggle Joe Davies and Ben Drew are away on leave this week The Pontypridd team selected to play Bonymaen is as follows: For those of you who have booked travel with the Ponty Supporters Club As always you can contact Phil Lycett on 01443 662561 To any supporters making your own way to Parc Mawr the postcode for Bonymaen’s ground is SA1 7JF when this Saturday 1st February we head to Pembrokeshire to play Narberth RFC The Admiral Premiership match at the Lewis Lloyd Ground will kick-off at 2:30pm Saturday’s match will be Ponty’s first ever visit to Narberth’s ground the only two prior meetings between the clubs came at Sardis in 2006 and back in October this season On Saturday 14th January 2006 Ponty won 50-0 in the Welsh Cup whilst earlier in the campaign on Saturday 12th October the Valley Commandos triumphed in an entertaining encounter by 52 points to 23 – Mitch Barnard Lucus Welch and Dale Stuckey all crossed for tries Ponty’s last matchday was on Saturday when the team headed into Gwent to play Newbridge and as expected it proved to be physical encounter between two powerful packs Pontypridd dug in and secured a 30-22 win to maintain their place at the top of the league 5 points ahead of Merthyr who have moved up into second following their win at Ystrad Rhondda and Neath’s defeat at Cross Keys Narberth currently occupy the last relegation place in the standings having suffered a 28-8 reverse at Llangennech over the weekend they have enjoyed home wins against Ystrad Rhondda and Newcastle Emlyn and have won on the road at Brecon and Bonymaen during the current campaign but our fantastic support doesn’t and there’s going to be another army of Ponty fanatics heading to West Wales this Saturday – the Ponty Supporters Club’s two separate trips are fully booked and that’s without everyone else making their way via plane Both Pontypridd Supporters Club’s trips are leaving Sardis Road at 10:30am and as has been mentioned they are both fully booked Phil Lycett is taking names for a standby list so drop him a line on 01443 662561 Here’s our recent Supporters Bus article about it all – Supporters Coach to Narberth – *Standby List In Operation* We’ll see you all this Saturday #PontyFans Friday evening’s fixture is a rescheduled one with the original encounter due to have taken place on Saturday 7th December The men from Pandy Park are back in the Premiership following a five year absence and as a result it’s their first visit to Sardis Road since the 27th October 2018 – Ponty enjoyed a comprehensive 73-12 win on that particular day This week’s match sees 1st take on 5th in the current standings Ponty will be hoping to make it eight consecutive wins in the league whilst Keys will be looking for the victory that could take them back into the Premiership’s top four For the second week running the Pontypridd squad has been hit with injury and unavailability and as result there are no fewer than seven changes to the team that started at Narberth last Saturday There’s also a positional switch in the starting XV two potential club debutants and two big personal appearance milestones There are four changes in the backline with Dale Stuckey returning at fullback following injury It’s all-change in the halfbacks with Lucus Welch and Jaydan Pugh starting at 9 and 10 and there’s a Ponty debut at inside centre for Sam Matthews – Sam is on permit from Tondu RFC and his selection sees Ioan Evans move to outside centre The other three changes come in the forwards and sees Morgan Bosanko and Jeff Young recalled to the front row whilst Lloyd Riley is drafted in to start at no.8 On the bench Dylan Kelly is recalled to the matchday squad and the other new face is backrower Rhys Emmott who is on permit from local club Llantwit Fardre RFC Unavailable for selection because of injury are Garyn Smith Garyn Daniel and Charlie Morgan-Stephens are all away on leave As mentioned a little earlier there are two big personal appearance milestones for two Pontypridd stalwarts Morgan Bosanko will run out and make his 100th appearance and Dale Stuckey will make his 200th appearance for Pontypridd on Friday evening – huge congratulations lads you have both given fantastic service to the Club Tickets – Admission on Friday will be £12 full, £10 concession access-all-areas and under 16’s free if accompanied by a paying adult. You can purchase tickets on the day or to save time (which is recommended to miss the queues) you can use our online e-Ticket system, here’s the link which includes all our different packages – Pontypridd v Cross Keys – E-tickets – 7/2/2025 The Bucket Collection – Friday evening’s bucket collection is for Kyle Sieniawski from the Graig Kyle is the youngest person in Britain to be diagnosed with motor neurone disease and the bucket collection is to help fund a clinical trial and assist the family in caring for him – please dig deep and give generously to support Kyle and his family Live Sport In The Clubhouse – Our Clubhouse will be open at 5:30pm and we will be showing live coverage of Italy U20 v Wales U20 in the U20s Six Nations – kick off at 7:15pm We’ll also have round-ball action when Manchester United play Leicester in the 4th Round of the F.A We look forward to welcoming both sets of supporters to Sardis Road this Friday The two clubs will lock horns on Saturday 25th January in the Admiral Premiership Saturday’s match will be Ponty’s first visit to The Welfare Ground since 27th January 2007 in the Welsh Cup when the Valley Commandos came away with a 25-0 win that day Our last league match at Newbridge is a few months shy of 20 years ago when the two sides met earlier this season on Saturday 28th September last year at Sardis Road The Men from Gwent proved to be resilient opponents and made Ponty work very hard for their 22-0 win – Cai James Louis Rochefort-Shugar and Kristian Parker scored the tries whilst Jacob Symes kicked the other seven points On Saturday just gone Ponty enjoyed a big bonus-point win over Llangennech to maintain their 3-point lead at the top of the table over Neath Newbridge were the side that played Neath at the Gnoll on Saturday and were leading 19-14 as the match entered the final ten minutes But two late tries broke Newbridge hearts as the Welsh All Blacks secured a bonus-point win of their own a late Newbridge penalty meant they headed home to The Welfare Ground with a losing bonus-point that their efforts deserved following a 28-22 reverse The top three teams all won with a bonus-point over the weekend and there’s very much a ‘who will blink first’ vibe for all the clubs in pursuit of the Premiership crown Newbridge currently occupy 10th place in the league sitting towards the lower end of the congested mid-table positions knowing that a couple of wins will propel them up the standings There’s another large contingent of travelling Valley Commando support expected to head north-east to The Welfare Ground on Saturday – we’ll see you there The Pontypridd Supporters Club are organising travel for fans to the match on Saturday The bus will leave Sardis Road at 1:00pm ahead of the 2:30pm kick-off The bus will then depart Newbridge for Pontypridd at 5:30pm – don’t leave it too late to book and be disappointed Here’s our recent Supporters Bus article with all the finer details – Supporters Coach to Newbridge Challenge Cup or Premiership Cup as its been known under different guises over the decades is still Wales’ premier knockout cup competition which dates all the way back to 1972 The Welsh Cup is steeped in history and tradition and Pontypridd are proud to have played in no fewer than thirteen finals whilst lifting the famous old trophy six times over the years The Valley Commandos’ last Welsh Cup win came in 2014 when the team triumphed by 21 points to 8 over this week’s opponents Cross Keys Simon Humberstone produced a superb performance that day kicking two penalties a conversion and a drop goal to accompany tries by Craig Locke and Gavin Dacey Ponty have appeared in two finals since then suffering the heartache of losing by just four points in both against Bridgend in 2015 and RGC in 2017 This Saturday’s major showpiece final presents a chance for Pontypridd to claim their first major piece of silverware since 2016 when the team beat Bedwas to lift the Foster’s Challenge Cup Pontypridd have played one less match than the Pandy Park men to get to the final stage after receiving a ‘bye’ in the first round The Valley Commandos then travelled to Bargoed Park at the quarter-final stage and it was a nail-biter The lead changed hands numerous times throughout match and Bargoed thought they had done enough to progress But Ponty were awarded a penalty with the last play of the tie and Jacob Symes held his nerve to kick his team to a 29-28 win Pontypridd then played Newbridge in the semi-finals at The Gnoll and there was no last-minute nerves on this occasion as the team claimed a superb win by 53 points to 14 The Keys’ path to the final includes beating Llangennech at home by 47 points to 11 in the first round before triumphing 52-28 away against Narberth in the quarter finals They were then drawn against Merthyr at the semi-final stage and won by 36 points to 31 after extra time in a cup classic at Bargoed Park it’s now just five days until our first visit to The Principality Stadium for eight years – it’s great to be back SUPPORTERS TRAVEL AND PAYMENT INFORMATION – You can buy your tickets for the final direct from the Welsh Rugby Union here – https://www.eticketing.co.uk/principalitystadium/Events?preFilter=53&preFilterName=NATIONAL%20FINALS%20DAY%202025  Please note that all tickets for the event are digital The origin of matches between Ponty and Ystrad goes way back the first record we have of a game between two clubs taking place was on 24th September 1885 and two touches down to nil – thank you to Club Historian Alun Granfield for that information Alun also goes on to say that: “Our two clubs played each other regularly until the 1940s but games between the two sides ended in 1949 and we didn’t play each other again until 1985 The last proper match came on 11 December 1987 when we played a cup game against them at Gelligaled Park coming away with a narrow win by 18 points to seven we did play a pre-season friendly against them a few years ago.” Many of you may remember the friendly that Alun mentions it took place on Saturday 20th August 2016 away at Gelligaled Park and it was Ponty that came away with a 38-0 win – that was the last meeting between the sides There have been lots of players that have represented both clubs over the years perhaps the most notable in recent times being former Sardis favourite Alex Webber who scored 68 tries in 114 appearances for the Valley Commandos between 2012-2020 – Alex will likely be named in the Ystrad side for this Saturday’s match as well But to the present and Pontypridd secured a fine bonus-point win away at Newcastle Emlyn on Saturday just gone In very tricky playing conditions the Valley Commandos had to front-up But in the second forty Ponty showed their class to come away from West Wales with a 38-0 win to maintain their place at the top of the league standings Ystrad Rhondda themselves are having a good season and are on a good run of form They currently sit 5th in the Premiership table and are unbeaten in their last four outings having had two draws sandwiched between two wins – their last win came on Saturday when they beat Llangennech at home by 26 points to 10 With both Neath and Merthyr hot on their tails Pontypridd know that they need to keep up their winning streak against an Ystrad Rhondda side who will be hoping to play Scrooge on Saturday at Sardis Road We have got an action-packed day in store on and off the pitch for supporters Tickets – Admission on Saturday will be £12 full, £10 concession access-all-areas and under 16’s free if accompanied by a paying adult. You can purchase tickets on the day or to save time (which is recommended to miss the queues) you can use our online e-Ticket system, here’s the link which includes all our different packages – Pontypridd v Ystrad Rhondda – 21/12/2024 Christmas Jumper Day –  Saturday is the club’s annual Christmas Jumper Day so make sure you get right into the festive spirit and wear yours Playing Shirts Auction and a Live Band – Post match there will be an auction in the Sardis Road Clubhouse to give fans the opportunity to purchase the players’ festive playing shirts that they will have worn in this Saturday’s match The auction will get underway at 5:30pm and when that finishes Indie-Rock band After Hours will be entertaining the crowd in the Clubhouse from around 6:30-7:00pm onwards Dewar Shield Parade – During the half time interval the victorious Pontypridd Schools U16s team will be parading the huge Dewar Shield around the ground following their thrilling 34-28 win at the Principality Stadium last Tuesday evening Live Sport In The Clubhouse – Our Clubhouse will be open from midday onwards and we will be showing live coverage of Aston Villa v Manchester City in the Premier League before back-to-back rugby matches from the Gallagher Premiership kick-off 3:05pm and this is followed by Sale versus Exeter which kicks off at 5:30pm We look forward to welcoming the supporters of both clubs to Sardis Road this Saturday afternoon Matches between the two clubs go all the way back to the 24th September 1885 and it was Ponty who won by a goal and two touches down to nil at Ystrad that day The last meeting between Ponty and Ystrad was on Saturday 20th August 2016 away at Gelligaled Park Pontypridd won 38-0 in a pre-season friendly that afternoon and with Ponty on a three-game winning streak and Ystrad unbeaten in their last four outings it promises to be a Christmas cracker on the pitch We can also promise you a cracker off the pitch as well we have lots going on late into the evening Ponty have made three changes to the XV that started last week’s win away at Newcastle Emlyn along with a couple of positional switches as well On the bench there are three new faces including a potential club debutant In the backline Ioan Evans returns at inside centre his inclusion sees Garyn Smith move one position outside him with Stuart Floyd-Ellis switching to the wing The two changes in the forwards sees Morgan Bosanko return at tighthead prop and Joe Miles at no.8 The three new faces in the matchday squad on the bench are Sam Talbot Joey has been called up from Ponty Youth and will make his senior debut if he comes on tomorrow – a proud moment for both Joey and the club Unavailable for selection are Louis Rochefort-Shugar who is ill and Joel Raikes who is suspended following his recent red card at Neath – Joel will be back available for selection when the team play away at Bargoed on January 11th