Fixture

Dowlais Vs Pontypool United 12/10/2024 Match Report

Score:

Dowlais: 28

Pontypool United: 20

A solid first win of the season for Dowlais this week, at home against Pontypool United.

Despite its ultimately favourable result, the match wouldn’t get off to the best of starts for Dowlais, as mere moments after kick-off, they would already find themselves in hot water, defending from the visitors’ assault in their own twenty-two.

Although they held out for a time, this opening attack from Pontypool United would ultimately net them the first converted try of the match, giving them a 7-0 lead before even the first five minutes had passed.

Thankfully for Dowlais, things wouldn’t spiral out of control from there, as following the next kick-off, they would manage to calm the match down and keep the visitors away from their try-line.

At the same time, the boys would steadily begin clawing their way back into Pontypool United’s half, launching a few promising but initially unsuccessful assaults of their own.

Dowlais’ efforts wouldn’t bear fruit right away, but at the very least, they were managing to keep the game under control and prevent the visitors’ lead from getting out of reach.

Towards the end of the first quarter of the match, Dowlais’ campaigns in Pontypool United’s twenty-two would finally see their first bit of modest success, as they managed to get their first points on the board, courtesy of a penalty, kicked by Conor Murphy, bringing the score to 7-3.

It hadn’t been the try that they’d been gunning for for the last fifteen minutes, but at the very least, they finally had something concrete to show for their efforts.

Unfortunately however, that progress towards closing the score gap would be undone just over five minutes later, when Pontypool United would kick a penalty of their own, bringing the score to 10-3, and restoring their seven-point lead.

But despite this unfavourable setback, Dowlais kept on pushing and charged back into the visitors’ twenty-two time and time again in their efforts to bring things even, and after yet another string of close, but ultimately foiled attempts, eventually, those efforts would finally be rewarded in the manner that they deserved.

As the half closed in on its final ten minutes, and Dowlais found themselves within an arm’s reach of the visitors’ try-line once again, their forwards finally managed to break through, for their well-earned first try of the match, touched down by Chris Thomas.

With a swift conversion from Conor Murphy moments later, this finally brought the score even, sitting at an exciting 10-10.

The final minutes of the half would continue in much the same fashion, with another series of back-and-forths, and both sides struggling to take the reins of the match.

Ultimately, one side would manage to take the lead before the half’s conclusion, but only in a rather small way, as Pontypool United would just manage to edge away a few minutes before its conclusion with yet another penalty, bringing the score to 13-10, the place where it would remain until half-time.

While Dowlais hadn’t quite managed to take the lead and had unfortunately fallen back behind in the closing minutes of the half, Pontypool United’s meagre three-point lead was far from out of reach, and it was still undoubtedly anyone’s game.

Having already proved that they had what it took to break through the visiting side’s lines, Dowlais entered the second half with renewed spirit, and a mission to finally take control of the match.

And amazingly, despite the trouble that they’d had with said mission in the previous half, Dowlais would manage to do so startlingly quickly as the curtain rose on the second.

The home side came out of the gate swinging with a charge into Pontypool United’s half, an effort that would net them a penalty in the opening breaths of the half, one that would swiftly be kicked by Conor Murphy once again, bringing them back even with their visitors at 13-13.

And unlike their last equalising effort, Dowlais wouldn’t let this chance to take charge of the match slip away, as minutes later, at around the five-minute mark of the half, they’d charge back over the visitors’ try-line for their second try of the match, touched down by James Churchill.

Although this particular try would go unconverted, it still allowed Dowlais to finally take the lead, with the score now sitting at a well-deserved 18-13. Now, with a lead finally established, their efforts needed to shift to maintaining it, and not allowing it to slip away.

While a slight complication to this goal would arise a few minutes later, courtesy of a yellow card, Dowlais would succeed at it for most of the remainder of the match. Their ten minutes at fourteen men would pass uneventfully, and even quite promisingly, as they found themselves back in the visitors’ twenty-two several times over.

Eventually, a few minutes after getting back up to fifteen men, as the match approached its final ten minutes, they’d manage to push their lead even further ahead, with another excellent converted try, touched down by Chad Powell and converted once again by Conor Murphy, taking the score to 25-13, and extending their lead to twelve points.

And this extension would prove to be a very important one just a few minutes later, when Pontypool United would break through with another converted try, bringing the score to 25-20, and putting them within just a try’s distance of taking the lead once again.

But while these last ten-or-so minutes would prove to be a tad nerve-wracking for a while, Dowlais would manage to hold strong and maintain the well-earned lead that they’d defended for most of the second half, keeping Pontypool United away from their twenty-two, and even going for one last try of their own, gunning for a bonus point.

Unfortunately, the boys wouldn’t quite manage to make that fourth try, but they did succeed in mostly keeping the game in the visitors’ half for the last few minutes , and their efforts would at least be rewarded with one last penalty, bringing the score to its final resting place of 28-20.

With the home side more than a try’s worth of points ahead, and with barely two minutes left on the clock, despite one last attacking effort from the visitors, the match would soon arrive at its conclusion, a 28-20 victory for Dowlais.

Overall, this was a very solid win for Dowlais this week. Although the first half was a bit messy, and the match as a whole definitely didn’t get off to the best of starts, the boys more than made up for its shortcomings with a strong, dominant second half, that ultimately managed to win them the match.

While it’s a shame that they didn’t quite manage to get that fourth try to secure a bonus point in the end, at the very least, their final penalty managed to keep Pontypool United from getting one, a difference which could end up being crucial later down the line on the late-season table.

Let’s hope for a similarly positive result next week, when Dowlais play Senghenydd away.