Saturday 27 January 2018

Powerful Pooler Prove a Point

Last week’s match against Narberth was called off due to a waterlogged pitch and, for a while, it looked as if the National Cup second round tie between Pontypool and Carmarthen Quins might suffer the same fate. The rain had been tumbling down off and on for a week but a bit of divine intervention and a lot of hard work rendered the pitch at Pontypool fit for play.  Nevertheless there was little doubt that the pitch would very much dictate the tactics employed by both teams.  This would be a classic Championship v. Premiership, East v. West cup tie which a good crowd was more than ready to enjoy. For Pontypool, this was another opportunity to demonstrate that they are more than ready to rejoin the Premiership should the WRU unlock the gates.

Pontypool played down the slope with the wind behind them in the first half and knew that it was vitally important for them to build a lead while conditions were in their favour. The home side started strongly and play was confined to the Quins half for most of the first quarter. Pooler went close to scoring a try on a couple of occasions but all they had to show for their effort was a penalty from Jones (3-0). What they had demonstrated, however, was that their forwards were more than a match for the West Walian pack.
The match burst into life in the last ten minutes or so of the first half after Marshall had kicked a penalty to even up the scores at 3-3. Pontypool were awarded a scrum five metres out and remorselessly drove the Quins pack back. The referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try to the exultant home side (10-3).
This drew an immediate response for the Quins who kicked a penalty to touch close to the home try line. The resulting lineout drive sucked in the Pontypool defence and they spun the ball out wide where Marshall took advantage of the space created to score an unconverted try (10-8).
A few minutes later, Pooler responded in kind when they too had a lineout close to the opposition try line. Their powerful lineout drive proved impossible to stop by fair means and a second penalty try was awarded (17-8). This passage of play also resulted in a yellow card for Quins’ hooker Myhill.
There was no further scoring in the second half and although Pontypool had gained a nine point lead it looked as if the Pontypool faithful were in for a tense forty minutes when the teams returned to the field.
The second half proved to be a disappointment from an entertainment perspective but that didn’t really bother the Pontypool faithful. Carmarthen Quins had clearly decided that kicking was the best option to set up their attacks. Pooler were more than happy to respond with kicks of their own. At times it reminded me of those games of “gaining” that we used to play with a rolled up rough book in West Mon.
In fact it took twenty minutes for the next score and that was a penalty from Jones for Pontypool (20-8). The Pontypool defence was thunderous and in truth the away side never really looked like closing the gap even when they brought on reinforcements from the replacements’ bench. The Quins did try hard to make an impression but too often they lost the ball under the pressure of the fearsome Pooler tackles. The final nail in the Quins coffin came by way of another Jones penalty that put Pooler out of sight at 23-8 in the dying minutes of normal time.
The referee found an extraordinary amount of injury time from somewhere but there was no way Pontypool were going to let this one slip. Just as people were starting to wonder if the pubs would still be open, the referee blew the final whistle and the Pontypool contingent celebrated a famous victory (FT 23-8).

This was a well-deserved victory for Pontypool with everyone playing with skill and commitment. The forwards were magnificent and managed to get on top of their Premiership counterparts which paved the way for victory. Pontypool are now in the quarterfinals which is the stage they reached last season. Let’s hope that we can go further this year – a home draw would be nice. Bring it on!

Next Saturday sees the start of the Six Nations or the Sick Nations as it might be called when you look at the injury lists for the teams. Wales will have it all to do to beat the Scots at the Principality Stadium. The biggest decision is who plays at outside half with the experienced pair of Biggar and Priestland both unavailable. I suspect that we will see a lot of Scarlets players in evidence. Maybe Patchell at outside half and Halfpenny at fullback with Williams and Parkes in the centre. I shouldn’t really try and second guess Gatland as I am invariably wrong (or he is!). Whoever they pick I can say with a degree of certainty that kicking the ball to Stuart Hogg would be ill advised. Hopefully there will be time for a light breakfast before we have to join the queue to get into the stadium.


Well done Pooler and come on Wales!

Sunday 14 January 2018

Pooler’s Persistence Pays Off

A dull, dreary day greeted me at Pontypool Park after a couple of weeks away in the sun. Whilst I had been away, Pooler had recorded two home victories against local rivals Newbridge in the league and Tata Steel in the Cup so had maintained their unblemished record for the season. The opponents for this encounter were Bedlinog who have shown over the last couple of seasons that they are at home in the Championship.

Pontypool played down the slope in the first half and it was abundantly clear from the early stages that Pooler were going to have to work hard for victory against a resolute and well organised Bedlinog defence. The home side controlled territory and possession but the Bedlinog tackles were firm. After around ten minutes, Pooler hooker Ball unexpectedly shot out of a ruck twenty metres from the Bedlinog line and fed Jeune who gleefully kept up his recent remarkable try scoring record by scoring the first try, The conversion was successful and Pooler were on their way (7-0). Five minutes later a copybook lineout drive saw Ball touch down for an unconverted try (12-0).
The Bedlinog defence continued to work hard and it took some really good combined play between the home backs and forwards to breach it a quarter of an hour later. Gullis popped up in support exactly on cue to finish off the move in the left hand corner. The try was converted by Jones and Pooler looked in complete control (19-0), Their dominance was reinforced when Robinson scored in the right hand corner after a period of Pooler pressure to bag the try bonus point (24-0).
Bedlinog are made of stern stuff and came back strongly as the first half drew to a close. Trowbridge was first to react to a speculative cross kick and scored a try which was converted by Parry (24-7). This was followed by a Parry penalty that closed the gap to 24-10 at half time. Pontypool seemed in control but Bedlinog were not to be underestimated.
The game followed a similar pattern in the second half as Pooler continued to attack and the Bedlinog defence continued to stifle their best efforts. It took two deft kicks from Jones for the home side to crack the defence midway through the half. The beneficiaries were Gullis and Thorley who both scored in the right hand corner in the space of a few minutes. Neither try was converted but all thoughts of a Bedlinog comeback disappeared with the score at 34-10.
The Pontypool squad has strength in depth and as the replacements were made Pontypool got fresh impetus and scored two more tries with both Thorley and Robinson grabbing their second tries of the afternoon. Both were wide out and went unconverted but the scoreboard had ticked on to an impressive 44-10. Remarkably only two of Pooler’s eight tries had been converted.
The final minutes of the match saw a yellow card for each team but no further scoring.

Another strong performance from Pontypool saw them increase their lead at the top of the Championship to nineteen points. There are two big challenges coming up though. Next week Pontypool travel to West Wales to take on Narberth who lie in second place in the Championship and always provide a stern test. The following week they face Premiership opposition as they take on Carmarthen Quins at home in the next round of the National Cup.

The western Welsh regions have done well in European competition this weekend with a brilliant performance by the Scarlets at Bath and a hard fought draw for the Ospreys against the reigning European champions Saracens. Let us hope the eastern regions can follow suit to give Wales a boost for the fast-approaching Six Nations tournament.

I can’t add any comment on the Welsh Premiership as I really don’t understand how anyone could come up with such an odd format. It doesn’t have to be that complicated does it?
Perhaps Pooler will be part of it some day soon!


Come on Pooler!