Steel Buckles

We had hoped for some late April sunshine as the Pontypool faithful headed down the M4 for the visit to Tata Steel in Port Talbot but instead we were battered by a cold wind and squally showers. Most of the crowd huddled together in the shelter of the once splendid clubhouse. The outcome of the match was clearly going to be decided by which team adapted to the conditions better as the strong wind was blowing straight down the pitch. The wind was surely going to be worth 20 points to the team playing with it

Pontypool lost the toss and played with the elements in the first half. They looked keen and hungry from the outset and although the home side were strong in the scrum and the maul Pontypool were clearly on top and the strong wind gave them a clear advantage in terms of territory. The three quarters combined well for Thorley to put Lewis in for an early try that was expertly converted by Gullis. This was backed up by a try by Sparks who barged over from short range. The conversion gave Pooler a healthy 0-14 lead but they still needed to build up a bigger cushion to counteract the wind factor.

The away side continues to press but looked to have a blown a scoring chance when they lost the ball close to the Tata line. Tata made a horrible mess of the clearance kick, however, and Quick was on hand to score Pooler’s third try. The conversion failed but at 0-19 Pooler were close to the magical 20 point lead that we wanted. They weren’t finished though and Sparks drove over near their posts for their fourth try and a lead of 0-26. Things were looking good for the away side but a couple of defensive blunders let the Tata scrum half stroll over from a 5 meter scrum right at the end of the half. The conversion failed leaving Pooler with a 21 point lead at half time. The game was far from over.

Tata Steel attacked strongly at the outset of the first half using their big forwards to drive forward but Pooler’s defence held firm. Both sides knew the importance of the first score of the second half. A Tata attack broke down and Pooler were able to escape from their 22. Excellent work from the backs led to Laing scoring wide out. Even though the conversion failed the try was a heavy psychological blow for Tata to take but even with the score at 5-31 you felt that Pooler could not afford to relax. Tata suffered a further blow when a yellow card for one of their flankers reduced them to 14 men. Pooler were clearly in command but then a rash tackle by their prop Edwards led to a red card redressed the balance.

The home side continued to attack through their forwards but the Pontypool defence seemed impregnable. The match became bad tempered as Tata’s frustration boiled over. The two opposing wings Lewis and Skidmore had a bout of fisticuffs and both were yellow carded. They did both return to the field in time for the coup de grace. Lewis expertly gathered a kick ahead to score near the posts and the successful conversion was the last kick of the game. The final score was 5-38 with Pooler scoring six tries.

This was an impressive performance from Pontypool who got the tactics just right in difficult conditions. Keeping Tata scoreless in the second half was a major achievement. Apart from the blip at Tondu, they are finishing the season strongly with several players impressing and the team playing well together. Next Saturday will give us a chance to measure the extent of their improvement when they come up against RGC 1404 who are well clear in second place in the league.

It has been heartbreaking to here the cries of the bottom sides in the Premiership as the reality of relegation stared them in the face. Suggestions of increasing the size of the league have been made and also we have heard them extolling the value of their contribution to Welsh rugby over the years. Do these arguments sound familiar? Where were they in Pontypool’s hour of need? We didn’t even finish in the bottom two of the league and we were relegated!

It seems as if Swansea will be joining us in the Championship next season and we look forward to it. Don’t rule out a last minute reprieve though!