Stung by the Wasps - Ponty 17 - 27 Wasps


By Web Team
April 27 2003

Pontypridd met London Wasps in the return leg of their Parker Pen semi final clash. Wasps held a 15 point lead going into the match and unfortunately Ponty couldn't turn it around. For a full report read on...

PONTYPRIDD 17 - 27 WASPS

Making up the deficit of 15 points was always going to be a tall order for Ponty against Wasps who are currently second in the Zurich Premiership but Ponty would have been motivated by the fact that it would be their last opportunity to play a European game as a stand alone entity.

Unfortunately for Ponty, the Wasps welcomed back a couple of key players into the team who knew that they were only required to stop Ponty from winning by more than 15 points to go through to the final.

If Ponty were to win the game they needed to start well in front of a 7000 strong crowd. Gareth Wyatt, the winger who barely touched the ball in the first leg showed some brilliant individual skill to chip ahead and gather the ball twice before scoring after 9 minutes of the game. Davey added the extras and all of a sudden Ponty were back in the game now only 8 points behind on aggregate.

However Wasps were about to effectively end Ponty's chances of progressing as they ran in three tries in succession. Dale MacIntosh conceded a penalty which allowed Wasps to kick into the Ponty 22. Then a catch and drive at the resulting lineout allowed Joe Worsley to cross for Wasps fist try. The second try came as a result of some poor Ponty play in the middle of the field. A loose ball was chipped ahead by Josh Lewsey and he followed up the kick, gathering the ball to score under the posts unopposed. The third and final try for the Wasps came minutes later as second row Simon Shaw was allowed to slip through a number of Ponty tacklers to score. King added all three conversions to put Wasps well ahead.

A penalty from Davey cut the deficit and a try at the end of the half by Sweeney gave Ponty some hope as they went in at half time 24 - 17 behind.

However, anyone who expected more tries to come was out of luck as the Wasps demonstrated how to hold onto a lead. In fact, the only score of the second half was an Alex King penalty which gave Wasps a 27 - 27 win and a 61 - 36 win on aggregate.

To their credit Ponty played well and showed a lot of determination in their quest for a place in the final but for the whole game the referee was against them failing to penalise Wasps for being offside. Also, the Ponty pack played exceptionally well dominating in most of the second half set pieces but overall Wasps were the better team over two legs and deserved to progress to the final.

 

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