Pontypridd 48 Jersey 17
Jersey matched the Welsh Premiership champions for most of a
competitive first half before Ponty upped their game and pulled
clear to win the British & Irish Cup tie at a canter.
Jersey had the perfect start when some powerful rumbling by the
forwards, right from the kick-off, set up a platform from which
Joel Dudley crossed for the try. The scrum-half was playing his
first game since August after an injury-plagued campaign.
Matthew Nuthall responded for the visitors, but Jersey regained the
lead when Talite Vaioleti crossed following good work by Glenn
Bryce. Ross Broadfoot missed two difficult conversions from wide
out and soon afterwards his opposite number Dai Flanagan landed a
penalty to tie the scores at 10-10.
Hooker Jack Dando put Ponty back in from with a try around the
half-hour mark, converted by Flanagan, and then debutant Aled
Summerhill crossed on the stroke of half-time to make it 22-10 at
the break.
Jersey needed an early score in the second half to get back into
contention, but instead it was the hosts who got the scoreboard
moving again when number 8 Owen Sheppeard scored the fourth - bonus
point - try.
Jersey were fire-fighting by this stage, and even the departure of
Ponty flanker Tom Hetherington to the sin-bin for foul play
couldn't stem the tide, with Summerhill adding his second try,
former Wales cap Gareth Wyatt scoring from a Flanagan cross-kick
and finally Bradley Thyer adding a seventh from another
cross-kick.
Jersey did have the satisfaction of getting the final score of the
match, a James Copsey try converted by Broadfoot. The visitors also
introduced young players Tim Corson and Harry Cochrane in the
closing stages - Cochrane making his senior debut while Corson's
only previous 1st XV appearance was as a replacement in the 2012
Siam Cup.
Both sides had hopes in the B&I this season: Jersey felt they
should have won the game against Ponty at St Peter, and were also
well-placed in their third match, at home to Leinster 'A', after
beating Leeds away from home. But the campaign fell away after
this.
Ponty finished the pool with 20 points, just two behind Leinster,
and know that if they'd gained a win in Jersey, or in their away
match in Dublin (lost 21-9), or if Leeds had defeated Leinster 'A'
in the teams' final pool match (it finished 30-30) that they could
perhaps have qualified. But ultimately a question of too many
ifs.
Jersey's attention now turns to the crucial RFU Championship
encounter with Doncaster Knights next weekend at St Peter, while
Ponty have ambitions to complete the league and cup double in Wales
before their season ends in late May.
Jersey squad, sponsored by Locate Jersey and
jersey.com
1. Myles Landick
2. Charlie Clare
3. James Gethings (rep Jim Brimelow)
4. James Voss
5. Paul Rodgers
6. Graham Bell (capt)
7. Eoghan Nihill (rep Tim Corson)
8. Talite Vaioleti
9. Joel Dudley (rep Harry Cochrane)
10. Ross Broadfoot
11. Chris Levesley (rep Brendan O'Brien)
12. Ashley Maggs
13. Donovan Sanders
14. James Copsey
15. Glenn Bryce
Pontypridd:
15.Aled Summerhill. 14.Matthew Nuthall (Gareth Wyatt). 13.Tom
Pascoe (Jake Thomas). 12..Dafydd Lockyer (Simon
Humberstone).11.Owen Jenkins. 10.Dai Flanagan. 9.Carl Thomas
(Gareth James).
1.Stuart Williams (Scott Roberts). 2.Jack Dando. 3.Bradley Thyer.
4.Simon Williams. 5.Cory Hill (Jordan Sieniawski). 6.Ed Siggery.
7.Tom Hetherington. 8.Owen Sheppeard.
