Sunday 17 December 2017

Mission Accomplished for Pooler

From the sunny Gwent lowlands, we journeyed to Glynneath for Pontypool’s latest adventure in the Championship. In Glynneath it was grey and cold but the welcome was certainly warm. Although Pontypool sit proudly at the top of the Championship and Glynneath in the basement, nobody really expected and easy game for Pooler at Abernant park.

It was clear right from the start that the pitch, which had the consistency of a Xmas pudding, was going to have a major impact on the way the game was played. It was certainly not going to be a day for running rugby.
Pontypool started brightly enough and within five minutes Luckwell had scored a try when he finished off powerful approach work from Lampitt and Williams. Meek converted and Pooler looked to be on their way to a victory (0-7). Unfortunately this was a long way from the truth. The rest of the first half turned out to be a hard-fought, dour affair with Pontypool unable to find any continuity in their play and the Glynneath forwards relishing the battle. Pooler gave away far too many penalties as the home side harried them into mistakes.
Sadly the most notable incident was a nasty looking injury to Pontypool hooker Watkins which resulted in a long delay as he was stretchered off the pitch. It is good to hear that he has not suffered any serious effects from the accident. Glynneath did manage to narrow the deficit with a penalty just before half time to leave Pontypool with a narrow lead at 3-7.
From a spectator’s perspective the match was pretty frustrating to watch as it was quite difficult to differentiate between the two sets of players as their already similar coloured jerseys gradually took on a coating of black mud. To make matters worse, the ball got dirtier and dirtier and more and more difficult to see when it was on the ground. Hats off to the referee who did a good job in difficult circumstances.
The second half saw Pontypool try and up the pace and they did manage to put a few sets of phases together. After about quarter of an hour, they at last managed to breach the stubborn home defence with Williams barging over for an unconverted try (3-12).
Pooler continued to attack and the backs managed to make some good ground down the right flank and Robinson squeezed in in the corner. The conversion failed but Pontypool had opened up a significant gap with the score at 3-17.
Pontypool needed one more try for the bonus point but it was Glynneath who did the attacking for the next ten minutes or so. The hammered away at the Pooler line with wave after wave of forward drives but the defence just held out. Finally Pontypool broke out of the stranglehold and worked their way down the field as the final whistle approached. Replacement scum half Quick spotted a gap and raced twenty metres or so to score under the posts. With the conversion the score was 3-24 although the scoreboard operator had already left his post. Shortly afterwards the referee blew the final whistle to everyone’s relief.

Another tough outing for Pontypool who again proved that they are worthy pacesetters in the Championship. Glynneath belied their lowly position to present a real challenge in difficult conditions. Yet again the Pontypool set piece was the foundation of the victory. The lineout operated well with Gregory doing some great work and the scrum was powerful putting the Glynneath scrum under tremendous pressure.

The next match for Pontypool will be at home against local rivals Newbridge after Xmas. This is sure to be a close encounter of the hard kind.

I hope everyone has a great Xmas and we all have a successful and peaceful New Year.


Come on Pooler!  

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