The senior team’s pre-season began on Saturday afternoon with an impromptu match against Ferndale BGC at Pentre Park 3G. Despite a loss, it was nevertheless an invaluable exercise and good preparation ahead of this Wednesday’s Kinsman-Hacker Cup fixture against AFC Porth.
All seven of the new signings were part of the 18-man squad on the day and all got important minutes on the field as the work to embed them and for coaches Paul Dennis and Ryan Wheeler to find the best combinations for next season begins.
The match was very much a game of two halves, Pontypridd dominating the first 50 minutes and leading 3-1 thanks to a first-half double from Lewis Taylor and an early second-half strike from Lewis Roberts (who began the game in goal). Looking to give every player time on the pitch, wholesale changes in the second-half led to a lot of disruption and the Rhondda League side adapted best with four unanswered goals in the final half-hour to win 5-3.
Even if this defeat is no cause of commiseration as much as victory would be no cause for celebration, the team will want to improve to avoid repeats of that horrible half-hour. Nevertheless, the coaches felt there were plenty of positives to be taken, especially the performances of several of the new players given their lack of time around the group.
The main disappointment was a knee injury for Ceri Williams, coming out worse from an innocuous tackle. Fingers crossed for Ceri it isn’t as bad as first seemed.
Pontypridd FC Squad (v Ferndale BGC): Lewis Watkins, Daniel Perry, Gareth Kear, Bradley Harris, Dan Outing, Kieron Cook, Aled Evans, Ceri Williams, Hywel Patterson, Lewis Roberts, Lewis Taylor, Owain Lewis, Gus Wyatt, Fifolu Akinyemi, Matthew Bennett-Jones, Connor Bickford, Tom Slater, Aron Barnes
