PONTEFRACT 71 BRIDLINGTON 6

PONTEFRACT 71 BRIDLINGTON 6

In what was billed as the match of the day in Yorkshire one, and with many pundits predicting an away victory, Pontefract produced, from one to fifteen, one of their finest performances to send their shellshocked opponents back to East Yorkshire broken and bedraggled.

The first twenty minutes was an even affair as the forwards worked hard to lay a solid platform. Particularly pleasing was the discipline shown when conceding a flurry of penalties. Instead of moaning and backchatting the referee, which would have happened earlier in the season, the team sorted what the ref would and wouldn’t allow, and hardly gave a penalty away there on in. Brid converted two penalties to take a 5-6 lead as Ponte gave a glimpse of things to come with the first of several outstanding tries. From a clearance kick, young winger Lucas Ketteridge, who had a tremendous first half, broke the gain line for the forwards to drive on. From the winning ruck, prop Ethan Potts, playing like a rugby league pivot, put rampaging flanker Sam Millard through a gap to link up with centre Andy Coleman who in turn put his young winger Ciaran Tucker in the corner for the first try of an eventual hat trick.

Ponte had to revert to basics for the next try as their much-lauded scrum gave number eight Jack Beddis his first converted pushover try. That try was soon followed by another as, again, a good Ketteridge return from a clearance kick allowed full back Richard Dedicoat to brilliantly offload to Beddis who in turn put Millard under the posts for a bonus point converted try. Half time and Ponte were cruising at 22-6 in front.

The second half started with a Brid yellow card for a high tackle. Ponte elected to take a scrum from the penalty as by now the scrum was walking forward at will. Beddis decided to pick up from the base and he put centre Coleman under the posts.

By now Brid’s resistance was wilting and the total dominance up front gave man of the match Liam Kay the time and space to produce a virtuoso masterclass of running and handling which in turn allowed his back line to run riot. Firstly, a marginal forward pass stopped a Dedicoat try, but a routine ball against the head allied to brilliant hands put Ketteridge in at the corner.

The next try had a hint of comedy about it as Beddis kept scoring a pushover try, only for the ref to penalise Brid for scrum offences. Second scrum brought a yellow card for Brid’s hapless prop who found giving away five stone plus to master scrummager Josh Hough too much to bear. It was third scrum lucky for Beddis as he grabbed his second try, under the posts.

Ponte blotted their disciplinary copybook as Coleman received a yellow card for a deliberate knock on. This didn’t stop the avalanche of points though as Tucker won a foot race for his second after a clever kick from Kay and Bailly Matthews rounded of a powerful display with his first try for the club. The tries were coming thick and fast as scrum half Josh Walker got on the end of a superlative break from hooker Tim Pickersgill.

Everyone thought that was that but there was still time for two more. Firstly, a length of the field break led to Harry Mcallister putting Dedicoat in for a deserved try, and then Tucker grabbed his hat trick try as Brid received another yellow for arguing with the ref. Tucker is developing into a tremendous prospect and is becoming a finisher extraordinaire as he added to impressive haul of tries this season.

Impossible to single out individuals overall, but special mention, in what really was a top class display, must go to the unsung heroes of the day such as Callum Rodgers, Brodie Matthews, Tad Nyanjowa, Leo Harrison and James Griffin.

So its on to next week against top of the table Middlesbrough. Hopefully Ponte won’t get carried away with this performance and put in the necessary hard work against the best team in the league thus far.