This will be a first competitive fixture for Ponty at Sardis Road since 7th January, and in the meantime some inconsistent form has seen the club slip to seventh position in the table. Bridgend lie one position and eight points behind, but with the bragging rights of having already claimed a league win over Ponty at the Brewery Field by the narrowest of margins – 16-15.
Preparing the Ponty squad physically and mentally to overcome recent setbacks such as the Bridgend loss has been one task for team manager Richard Langmead, who said: “We need now to start putting things right and that recovery has got to get underway against Bridgend. We need to set ourselves up for what will be a very difficult run in to the end of the season.
“Our destiny is still in our hands, but we can not afford to perform as we have done, we need to knuckle down and get back to winning ways to have any chance of claiming honours this season.”
Pontypridd will be without centre Adam Thomas and wing Owen Williams, both called up to the Wales Sevens squad, and scrum half Rhys Downes who has suffered a reaction to his recent ankle injury. Carl Thomas is drafted in on permit from Llantwit Fardre to cover at number 9.
Pontypridd 15.Harley Thomson. 14.Chris Clayton. 13.Gavin Dacey. 12.Dafydd Lockyer. 11.Matthew Nuthall. 10.Simon Humberstone. 9.Lewis Jones; 1.Stuart Williams. 2.Huw Dowden. 3.Pat Palmer. 4.Craig Locke. 5.Ryan Savage. 6.Chris Dicomidis – cpt. 7.Wayne O’Connor. 8.Owen Sheppeard.
Replacements: Carl Thomas; Lewis K Williams; Gary Williams; Tom Hetherington; Jake Thomas; Dan Godfrey; Ryan Harford.
Bridgend: 15 Jamie Murphy 14 Rhys Ward Jones 13 Tom Isaacs 12 John Leyson 11 Steve Cullen 10 Dai Flanagan 9 Tom Habberfield; 1 Chris Francis 2 Matthew Dwyer 3 Owen Williams 4 Lloyd Peers (Capt) 5 Kyle Maiden 6 Jonothan Vaughan 7 Lloyd Evans 8 Ben Thomas
Replacements: 16 Tom Owens 17 Dan Sutter 18 Rod Apsee 19 Andrew Waite 20 Matthew Llewellyn 21 Gareth Howells 22 Kyle Barrett
