A Bad Day at Blackwood

The Pontypool faithful travelled to near neighbours Blackwood with a degree of optimism following last week's victory. Blackwood had not had the best start to the season either so here was a chance to secure an away victory. Yet again we were blessed with a sunny afternoon and we settled back in eager anticipation to watch what we hoped would be a keenly fought local derby..
It took less than a minute for a swift mood change. Blackwood kicked off, Pooler got the ball back to the full back for a relieving kick as per the plan. The kick was charged down and Blackwood were in under the posts - not in the plan. Worse was to follow, Pontypool were awful and could hardly string to passes together. True they were not helped by a rather liberal interpretation of the offside law by the referee with respect to the Blackwood defence and a very harsh yellow card for Sam Mills, but this really was a first half from hell. Blackwood for their part played some decent stuff and if it were not for some profligate finishing should have been more that 13-0 ahead at the end of the half. Pooler did manage to finish the half with some decent pressure in the Blackwood twenty two but, in truth, never looked like scoring. Surely the second half half would be better.
The second half started badly for Pontypool with Blackwood pressing. They got their reward when from a scrum that had wheeled through 185 degrees, their scum half ran in for a try unopposed as Pooler waited for the whistle that never came. 20-0 down and a pithy comment from the Pooler water carrier led to his dismissal by the referee. This was turning into a nightmare!
Then things began to change. A couple of Blackwood injuries and the introduction of the experienced Calwyn Morgan at scrum half certainly contributed to a shift in momentum. More telling was the referee remembering the offside law and penalising Blackwood five or six times before finally administering a yellow card. Suddenly it was all Pooler and their confidence seemed to grow exponentially and forwards and backs began to combine effectively at last. Their efforts were soon rewarded with two unconverted tries and a penalty to bring the score to 20-13. There was a lot of injury time to be played and Blackwood were hanging on desperately as they were reduced to fourteen by another yellow card. A draw was still on the cards but try as Pooler might they could not quite complete the come back.
An away bonus point was the reward for Pontypool but you were left frustrated and wondering why it took them so long to show the urgency and sense of purpose that they showed towards the end. It would be too easy to blame the referee, critical self-examination is required.