Fixture

Dowlais Vs Pontypool United 09/03/2024 Match Report

Score:

Dowlais: 52

Pontypool United: 7

An excellent, decisive victory for Dowlais this week, away at Pontypool United.

Now, from the score above you can probably tell that things went quite well for the boys this week, and the good fortune reflected up there certainly wasn’t a late development, as the visitors got off to a shockingly fantastic start.

Before the opening breaths of the game had even passed, Dowlais already found themselves with a try under the posts, touched down by Kyle Prosser and swiftly converted by Connor Murphy.

That would have been a fantastic start by itself, but in even more shocking fashion, Dowlais replicated that success moments later with yet another try, this one delivered and ran down the wing, before being converted once again.

Then just, as the clock struck the double digits, they did so yet again with a similar, albeit unconverted try.

Amazingly, Dowlais had already found themselves 19-0 up and just a single try away from a bonus point with only a quarter of the half gone.

But in the wake of that opening onslaught, it seemed as though the home side finally woke up and were lifted from their daze, as Pontypool United swiftly began a long and gruelling counterattack.

After having entered their opponents’ twenty-two three times within ten minutes and having scored every single time, Dowlais suddenly and jarringly found themselves on the defensive for a massive fifteen minute stretch, trapped in their own twenty-two – a section of the pitch that they’d barely spent seconds in up until that point.

Despite a valiant and tough defence, for one reason or another – be it handling errors or conceding penalties, Dowlais simply found themselves unable to escape, as though their rampage in the opening ten minutes had taken everything out of them.

But even with the home side’s brutal persistence, Dowlais eventually managed to get to the other side of the onslaught without conceding a point.

Unfortunately however, just as they managed to do so, they were swiftly dealt a yellow card, putting them straight back under the pump for another long round of defence.

Similarly to their last lengthy engagement in front of their own try line, Dowlais found themselves unable to escape or strike back against Pontypool United’s assault. Eventually, after many long and fiendishly persistent efforts, the home side would finally be rewarded, earning a penalty try that had been a long time coming.

As the first half closed in on its final five minutes, it began to feel as though those first ten minutes had been some sort of insane fluke for Dowlais, as nearly from the moment they scored their third try, they hadn’t displayed any of the same offensive prowess and seemed to have been struggling to hold on for the last twenty-five minutes.

But you’ve seen the score above, so I won’t play coy any longer. Despite the pressure that they’d put Dowlais under for most of the first half, Pontypool United’s good fortune would end with their penalty try, whose seven points would ultimately make up their final points of the match.

In the final minutes of the half, Dowlais’ fire returned at last, eventually culminating in a try touched down by Chad Powell and converted once again by Connor Murphy just before half time.

With the score sat at 26-7, a bonus point already under their belts and the momentum from their last minute try, Dowlais seemed ready to enter the second half on a high note and hit the ground running with even more points.

And despite some lingering uneasiness in the crowd, with Dowlais having blown a similar massive lead against Abergavenny at the start of the season, the visitors soon proved that they had no cause for concern.

The second half truly was Dowlais’ game and no one else’s. Over the course of the half, the boys would double their already impressive try count of four to a staggering eight, as well as doubling their score.

The first and second of the half would be driven over and then touched down by Joel Braddock, while the third would be scored again by Chad Powell, and the last by Connor Murphy, who also successfully converted all but the third try, bringing the score to a mighty 52-7.

Although they had a few moments of promise, Pontypool United ultimately wouldn’t get a word or a point in during the second half, ending the match off with a decisive, perhaps even excessive bonus point victory for Dowlais.

I feel for the most part, the score mostly speaks for itself for this match.

Dowlais showed some incredible attacking strength, but also a pleasant amount of ingenuity, with the eight tries scored being quite varied in their execution, from gritty, rough drives over the line to some impressive running and line work to score right on the wings.

And although they would eventually crack and didn’t quite get off with a clean sheet, the boys also showed some great defensive prowess, especially in the first half with how long the home side kept them on their own try line.

However, there were a good number of silly penalties and handling errors – many of which contributed to their long, purgatory-esque stay in their own twenty-two during the first half.

In fact, if it weren’t for them, they probably could have scored even more, as they had a good number of try opportunities that were foiled by a whiffed pass or careless penalty.

But ultimately, for this match at least, those factors were heavily, heavily outweighed by all of the good that the boys managed to bring this week. If my biggest problem with a forty-five point victory is that they maybe could have scored a few more, then I think that’s the sign of a pretty great performance.

Let’s hope for another high scorer next Friday, as Dowlais play Risca away.