A fifth triumph of the season was enough to keep the home side ahead of Swansea in the basement battle and it was only the first win on the pitch since 28 January and only the second at home after a 40-8 victory over Bridgend on 24 September.
“Given the standards we set ourselves it has been a disappointing season. At lest we were able to send the fans home on a positive note,” admitted Ponty skipper Kris Parker.
“There has been lots of endeavour, but not enough accuracy in our game. We need to recruit well and work hard through the pre-season to come back stronger and put ourselves in a better position going forward.
“There is only one way we can go from here under the new coaching team of Gareth Wyatt and Geraint Lewis, and that is up. We are a tight unit and we will emerge from these tough times much stronger next season.”
While the top four sides in the Indigo Premiership were playing off for home advantage in the play-offs, these two teams were battling to finish one off the bottom – just ahead of a Llanelli side that folded before the end of the campaign.
Fijian flyer Niko Matawalu got Ponty off to a great start when he intercepted a pass eight metres out from his line before racing the length of the field to score. Swansea then lost Jake Baker to a yellow card for illegally bringing down a maul.
James Davies kicked a penalty on the stroke of half time to make it 5-3 and it was still anyone’s game. Joe Scrivens kicked Ponty further ahead with an early second half penalty before Nathan Huish was driven over for a try from a line-out.
All of a sudden there was a spring in the step of the home side and when No 8 Aled Ward raced 20 metres almost to the try line, skipper Kris Parker was on hand to pick up a dot down. Ward then got over from the base of a dominant scrum to bag the bonus-point score. Scrivens added the extras to all three scores.
The visitors earned a rare penalty at the scrum with Joe Thomas wasting no time to get his side on the front foot and Gareth O Rees profited when he took a pass in midfield to score a consolation try.
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Pontypridd finally gave their fans a home victory to savour as they brought their season to a close with a 29-10 win over Swansea at Sardis Road.
Scorers: Pontypridd: Tries: N Matawalu, N Huish, K Parker, A Ward; Cons: J Scrivens 3; Pen: J Scrivens. Swansea: Try: GO Rees; Con: J Davies; Pen: J Davies
