With Wales, British & Irish Lions and Pontypool legend Graham Price supporting from the sidelines, Harri Williams side took firm control of proceedings and found themselves 25-0 at the break.
Williams led by example, scoring two of his side’s seven tries, and duly won the Go.Compare Player of the Match award, which was presented to him by Price.
Pontypool showed they meant business right from the off and it wasn’t long before Dewi Harper was crossing the first of his brace. That came off turn-over ball as Pooler preyed on every mistake made by Bridgend.
Williams was next to score, thanks to good handling from Baxter Squirrel, and then Squirrell himself got over for the third. It was impressive line speed and aggressive defence from the Gwent side that forced Bridgend into a handling error to pave the way for the fourth try.
Their high press enabled Devlin Pearce to snap up the loose ball and stole over. Harry Sargent rounded things off nicely at the end of the first half with a try that made it 25-0 at the break.
It looked to be all over bar the shouting at that stage, but to their credit Bridgend kept on playing, refused to drop their heads and showed loads of courage and character to win the second half by three tries to two.
Williams second try at the start of the second 20 minutes made it 30-0 to Pooler, but then came the reaction from the boys in blue. Their passes began to stick, their phases grew and when Stuart Williams crossed for their first try they started to believe in themselves.
Harper scored the try of the match with a lovely dummy and then sprint from half-way to make it 35-10 to Pontypool, but there was a sting in the tail from Bridgend as first Harri Barker and then the impressive Taylor James ran in tries that meant they could leave with their heads held high.
DC Thomas U11 Cup Final
Bridgend: Theo Williams; Taylor James, Brandon O’Brien, Joseph Humphreys, Evan Mordecai; Carter O’Driscoll, Max John; Harvey Davies (captain), Ioan Morgan, Harri Barker, Conrad Fitzgibbon, Lewis Jakeman
Reps: Troy Budge, Adriano De Abreu, Lewi Power, Dewi Evans
Scorers: T: Williams, Barker, JamesSquad Members: Oliver Holman, Kristen Brooke, Sebastian Jones, Jake Goodridge, Rohan Davies, Luis Tooze, Chase Hopcutt, Morgan Edwards, Cian Hoey, Jacob Thomas, Cairon Allen, Gruff Powell, Archie McEvoy, Ethan Facey, Isaiah Sarr
Pontypool: Owen Jenkins; Lewis Spooner, Dewi Harper, Baxter Squirrel, Harry Sargent; Dylan Stockwell, Joshua Evans; Devlin Pearce, Archie Blake, Jacob Jones, Jack Ryder, Harri Williams (captain)
Reps: Alfie Powell-Bayliss, Bobby Elmore, Tom Haxton, Bevan Bainton
Scorers: T: Harper 2, Williams 2, Squirrell, Pearce, SargentSquad Members: Sione Moa, Bleddyn Wright, Tommy Baldwin, Amelia Burns, Jacob O’Leary, Myles Hutton, Jasper Ryan, Dylan Thomas, Fletcher Thomas, Lewys Webb, Finn Harris, Myles Arnold, Eli Huxley, Celt Thomas, Jackson Nicholas, Ollie Burton, Jasper Vallis, Oziah Misljen, Callan Davies, Volo Eventon, Storm Gregg, Jayden Viveash
Go.Compare Player of the Match: Harry Williams (Pontypool)
