A Bad Day at Blackwood 2

Actually it was a worse day at Blackwood as Pontypool visited for the second time this season. This time it was in the SWALEC Cup but the outcome was the same - a home victory.
The match had been postponed from the previous week due to inclement weather. The pitch was perfectly playable if a little heavy and there was a biting wind that favoured Blackwood in the first half. Blackwood were spiky, committed and cohesive right from the kick off and quickly started to accummulate points at the alarming rate of a point a minute. Four converted tries and three penalties later they led 37-0 at halftime. As for Pooler, they were everything that Blackwood were not and although the set pieces were competitive everything else was little short of a shambles. The saying "they were lucky to get nil" never more truly described a half of rugby.
Those of us who remember the first match will be struck with the similarity. In that match, Blackwood racked up 20 points with no reply early in the second half and indeed should have scored a few more such was the gulf between the two teams. It was certainly too much to expect for Pooler to push Blackwood as they did in that game from such a monumental deficit. What we wanted in the second half was a much more committed display to salvage some pride. The second half was much more competitive but eminently forgettable. Pontypool strove hard and looked determined to win the second half if they possibly could. Both sides had long periods of pressure but mistakes and good defence prevented either side from scoring. Indeed, it was almost injury time before the first points were scored and that was a Blackwood penalty that was kicked almost in desperation when their numbers were depleted by a red card. To their credit, Pontypool never gave up trying and were rewarded with a converted try right at the death. Yes, they had won the second half - no mean feat when you consider what had gone before. The final score was 40-7 and few would argue that the margin of victory was flattering.