PONTEFRACT 46 MIDDLESBOROUGH 26

PONTEFRACT 46 MIDDLESBOROUGH 26

It was the ex players reunion day at the club with many coming to see the class of 2019 for the first time. The old boys were treated to another dominant performance by Ponte and were, to a man, very impressed.

Ponte were frustrated for most of the first half as Middlesbrough scored first through a good handling move which resulted in their speedy left wing touching down. The pack showed their regular dominance in the scrum but the line outs did not function as well as usual, leading to good positions been wasted. Ponte seemed to get the balance wrong of when to put the ball through the backs and when to utilise forward drives, especially when close to the Boro line. The frustration ended with two tries in quick succession on the stroke of half time. Firstly sub prop James Griffin demanded the ball be kept tight and scored from close range with his first touch. This was followed by Richard Dedicoat’s first try as centre Andy Coleman ran a superb line to break through and put him away. Callum Watts converted to make the half time score 12-5.

The second half started with a ten minute purple patch as four tries were scored without reply. First Gaz Burns scored from a forward drive following a charge down from an opponents kick by Coleman. The next bonus point try was a similar effort, this time Niall Sandwith benefited as the Boro forwards had no answer to the power and know how of the Ponte pack.

The Boro heads seemed to drop as Ponte cut loose. Straight from the kick off great hands in the backs sent Stuart Sanderson over the line. This was followed by some sevens like rugby which ended in Liam Kaye finding number eight Burns on the wing to go over unopposed. Only one of the tries was converted as the lead was stretched to 34-5.

At this point it looked as if Boro were going to be handed a thrashing but in the next ten minutes they were back in the game as they scored three converted tries as Ponte took their foot off the gas and stopped doing the basics. With the score at 34-26 however, order was restored as Dedicoat completed his hat-trick with two quick tries, the second coming from a career first clean break from burly prop Josh Hough.

Another impressive double bonus point league victory for the Blues. Although it was an all round team performance, Dedicoat and Coleman shone in the backs whilst Andy Lund had a very strong game. Burns was a colossus, but he would be first to credit to the front foot ball created from the forwards in which young props Hough, Griffin and Tyler Smith must be given credit.