Worcester Warriors 24 - 10 Pontypridd RFC

What an amazing day we have had!

A rare away day for me watching Ponty.

It was BIC Cup Quarter Finals day. Ponty had qualified for this stage of the competition with a last minute try in the pool stages. It meant a big away day for the fans .. and didn't we turn out in droves.

There appeared to be a cunning plan by the Worcester Warrior committee to try and silence the invading army of Ponty fans.

Those who had not arrived on the ten Edwards Coaches had a fifteen minute walk to ground, leaving us all breathless and unable to sing!

They also built their ground facing North/ South, so we couldn't see a thing going on in the East Stand as were looking straight into the sun.

By the time we had figured out the game had actually started Ponty were already 7-0 down. Worcester were clearly going to play dirty!

A mix up in midfield meant Worcester run another simple try in. 14-0. With Worcester averaging 40 points by half time in their previous three matches we feared the worse.

Finally there was a scrum, now we were in our territory. The Worcester front row made sure their hairnets were on tightly and down they went. The Ponty front row won us a penalty. 14-3! We were on the scoreboard.

That almost made the Worcester fans next to us drop the Darjeeling in shock! It obviously upset the Worcester backs, and they stretched their well toned, tanned and undoubtedly shaved calf muscles and outpaced our boys again! 21-3.

The next score was going to be important!

It wasn't us! A penalty for something the referee clearly got wrong just before half time meant we faced a mountain to climb in the second half. 24-3 going into the break.

A quick use of the facilities at half time showed what an amazing facilities they have at the Sixways .. beer, curry and chips, toilets that are indoors, and then it was back out into the setting sun for the second half.

It was a cracking second half by the Ponty boys. No longer hampered by the sun we went about playing some proper rugby. Finally, all the perserverence paid off and we crossed in the corner and got the scoreline working on our side of the board. 24-10.

That was the last score of the game, but Ponty had a few clear cut chances and defended heroically at times. We won the second half 7-0, proving if the game had kicked off at four we would have won! Another dirty trick played by Worcester.

It was a fantastic day out. I went up with Dawn, my dad and my brother, and we met Gary and Cathy there, who are both Worcester fans.  The atmosphere was the best I have had a rugby ground for many a year. Yes it wasn't our day, we were always going to have to perform at an extra level to win, but we didn't disgrace ourselves. It was wonderful to see all the friendly comments from the Worcester fans about our travelling support.

It just reaffirms the old Ponty Till I Die thing in me .. which isn't a bad thing really!