Saturday 17 December 2016

Scrum All Ye Faithful

Over the years, the local derbys between Pontypool and near neighbours Newbridge have produced some memorable clashes. On Saturday Pontypool took their unbeaten record to the Welfare Ground with another tough outing anticipated. It was a dull, grey, still afternoon and a good crowd had assembled hoping for some tasty Xmas fare. The pitch looked a bit like a Xmas pudding anyway!

Newbridge made a hash of the kick off and from the ensuing scrum their pack was pushed back yards. It was clear that the Newbridge scrum was going to face a searching examination for the remainder of the match. This was the dominant feature of the first half with the scrum proving an invaluable source of possession and penalties for the away side.
Even though they frequently had excellent field position, Pooler found it difficult to put points on the board. The referee’s whistle regularly punctuated the first half as a series of handling errors and transgressions made any kind of continuity difficult to achieve. By half time Pontypool had only managed to build a 3-13 lead despite occupying the Newbridge half for virtually the whole forty minutes. The one Pontypool try came when the lively Coundley who was on hand to take a pass from Jones after the outside half had beaten a couple of men. The remaining points came from three penalties - two for Pontypool and one for Newbridge. By half time both sides had also been reduced to fourteen men by yellow cards with Davies for Pooler and, ex Pontypool prop, Edwards for Newbridge in the sin bin.
Newbridge did have a few attacks early in the second half but the match soon resumed the pattern of the first half with Pontypool dominating proceedings. After about ten minutes, Pontypool won a lineout close to the Newbridge line and at last got the driving lineout drill to work with Coundley getting over the line for his second try. The conversion made the score 3-20 and it seemed unlikely that the home side had the wherewithal to mount a comeback. Their cause was made even more forlorn when Edwards had the briefest of cameos on his return to the field which was brought to an end by a second yellow card for an offence at a ruck.
Pontypool were now in complete command and it was time for the backs to take a hand. Good handling put Meek in for an unconverted try (3-25) and shortly afterwards the ball was spread wide for Usher to outflank the defence and score in the corner. Again the try went unconverted but Pooler had secured the bonus point and a 3-30 lead.
The substitutions were coming thick and fast for both teams and it was good to see Clayton Gullis return to action for Pontypool after a long layoff due to injury. As full time approached, Pontypool scored their fifth try when Usher was again put into space and scored near the posts. With the successful conversion this made the score 3-37.
To their credit Newbridge had never given up and in injury time they made a rare incursion into the Pontypool twenty two. Nash was yellow carded for offending at a ruck and from the penalty Newbridge hooker Vokes barged over for a consolation try which was converted from near the touchline (10-37).
There was still time for East from Pooler to be yellow carded for obstruction and for Meek to end proceedings with a penalty to make the final score 10-40.

In the end this was a convincing win for Pontypool but they had to work hard for it against stubborn opposition. The powerful scrum was the key to the victory and was a source of plentiful possession. I guess that there will be a measure of frustration about not being able to score a few more points in the first half but I think even the most ardent Pontypool fan would have taken a 10-40 victory at Newbridge if it had been offered to them before the kick off.

This brings down the curtain on 2016 for Pontypool.  The year started so promisingly with Pontypool sitting in a promotion place near the top of the Championship. Unfortunately things did not work out but the squad has done fantastically well to bounce back from just missing out on promotion and reel off fifteen straight victories this season. Well done everyone.

Here’s wishing everyone a Merry Xmas and a Successful New Year.

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