All’s Well That Ends Well

Spring had finally sprung at Pontypool Park. It was shirt sleeve order and there was even the occasional pair of white legs on view as we enjoyed the sunshine on the Bank. Pontypool were entertaining local rivals Blackwood who were languishing at the bottom of the league so a home win was very much on the cards.

Blackwood had not read the script, however, and for the first half an hour proceeded to totally dominate territory and possession. True Pontypool scored first with a penalty in the first couple of minutes but, from then on, play was concentrated in the home 22. Fortunately for Pooler, Blackwood didn’t take full toll of their ascendancy and blew several golden point scoring opportunities. Nevertheless they did manage to score a couple of unconverted tries and kicked a penalty to build up a 3-13 lead. The home side looked out of sorts and just couldn’t get a foothold in the game. They needed to find some inspiration from somewhere or a shock home defeat was very much on the cards.

The spark was provided by a break from fullback, Hancock, and Pooler finally broke the shackles and managed to work their way into the Blackwood 22.  Even more importantly, they managed to hang on to the ball for several phases and eventually the pressure told for Quick to score a short range try. The successful conversion brought the score to 10-13 and Pooler were back in the game. A bout of fisticuffs just before half time led to a yellow card for Pontypool’s Powell but the referee blew up for halftime before Blackwood could capitalise on it. The 3 point margin in the scores was very flattering for Pontypool. In truth, it was a half that they would really want to forget.

It was likely that the first ten minutes of the second half was going to be crucial in determining the course of the game. In fact, the game hinged on a single incident. A defenceless Mills was taken out at a ruck by the Blackwood number eight, Brake. As a consequence, Mills was stretchered off and Brake received a straight red card.  A further consequence was that Gullis brought the scores level from the ensuing penalty.

Pooler seemed to gain some momentum and, following a searing break by Hancock, who had moved to outside half, Williams scored from a ruck close to the Blackwood line. The successful conversion gave Pooler the lead at 20-13. We expected that Pooler would pull clear as they returned to their full complement after the sin binning, but Blackwood had other ideas and pressed strongly and the home side again struggled to get out of their 22. Blackwood failed to capitalise on their good field position and Pooler eventually broke out for Goodman to score a try near the posts following another break by Hancock. This seemed to be the last straw for Blackwood whose resolve crumbled. In the last few minutes it was all Pontypool and they ran in two further converted tries by Norton and Thomas to leave the final score at 41-13.

The final score was probably what you might have expected before the game on the basis of the two teams’ respective league positions but it doesn’t really reflect Blackwood’s contribution. For long periods of the game, Pontypool struggled and with better finishing by the away side the result might have been very different. Pooler will really need to perform at a higher level for the full 80 minutes next week if they are to get anything from their tough away fixture at Bargoed.

So Edward Griffiths, the Chief Executive of Saracens, found the WRU representatives “erratic” at the discussions about the new European competitions. Why don’t I find that surprising?  With Neath and Swansea stuck at the bottom of the Premiership and Ebbw Vale and RGC1404 at the top of the Championship, I am full expecting the WRU to suddenly change back to a 14 team Premiership with no relegation this season.