Pontypridd have been booted out of the new-look Welsh Premiership play-offs for fielding two ineligible players in Monday's 21-12 win over Llandovery.

The Drovers now take Ponty's place in the first semi-final at Neath on 13 May although Ponty will consider an appeal.

A Pontypridd statement said they were keen to stress that it was a "genuine error" not "deliberate deception".

The club say the Welsh Rugby Union disciplinary committee accepted this but had to punish the mistake.

"The simple fact was that we only had two fit props within the squad and no fit scrum-halves at all," Pontypridd spokesman Guto Davies told BBC Sport Wales.

It was a case of needs must to get a team out on the field Pontypridd spokesman Guto Davies

"We had two players on permit, a scrum-half from Cardiff, Garyn Lucas, and a prop from Glamorgan Wanderers, Nathan Trevett, who came on when one of our props was injured.

"It was a case of needs must to get a team out on the field, but if we broke the rules we hold our hands up and accept the decision of the WRU.

"There's an appeal procedure but I don't know how the club is going to approach it, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

"We realise that an error has been made and sometimes you have to accept these things."

The full statement on the Pontypridd RFC website says: "At a meeting of the WRU regulatory committee held on Thursday, 6 May, attended by chief executive Stephen Reardon and team manager Richard Langmead, the club was found guilty of breaching WRU regulations by fielding an ineligible player in the play-off match against Llandovery.

"As a consequence, the club has been expelled from the play-off competition and will be replaced by Llandovery.

"Pontypridd RFC would like to make it clear that this was a genuine error and not a deliberate deception.

"The regulatory committee of the WRU accepted this but were duty bound to act as the club was in breach of the competition rules."

The top eight Welsh Premiership sides at the end of the regular season advanced to the complicated play-offs.

Neath, who topped the league at the end of the regular season, beat Pontypridd 34-3 in the first round of the play-offs.

That set up the Sardis Road side's clash with Llandovery, who finished eighth at the end of the regular season but had come through a play-off against Aberavon.

The second semi-final, to be played on 15 May, will be between Swansea and the winners of Newport v Llanelli.

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