The Bare Necessities

The contrast could not have been much greater. At Pontypool Park on Saturday rugby fans had gathered to watch the game that they love rather than have a drunken orgy - well most people anyway. There was no light show and no fireworks and the music that played over the public address system did not make you reach for the ear plugs.

Yes we had come to watch a game of rugby and there didn’t seem to be the need to have our faces painted or wear a daffodil head. We took our places on the Bank and we didn’t constantly have to move to let people go and buy a pint of beer or have a pee. In the main people understood the game and the inane comments were kept to a minimum. You could rest easy and enjoy the game and not worry about how you were going to get home.

Yes we were back in our comfort zone and the picturesque surroundings of Pontypool Park and the angst of the previous evening gently drifted away.

Pontypool have been going through a patchy period of patch form of late and had been heavily defeated earlier in the week in a rearranged cup tie at Bedwas so they really needed to get back on track and put up a decent performance against the visitors from Glynneath.

Playing down the slope in the first half Pooler quickly established control with the forwards getting on top in the scrum  and loose and allowing the backs to get some good clean possession in the Glynneath half. It took a while to break down the visitors’ defence but tries started to come at regular intervals as the backs began to fire. The lively Hurley probed intelligently and scored the first try himself before combining with the equally influential Davies to put Quick in for a well-worked try. Brooks showed his dazzling footwork and pace to score a fine individual try from a tap penalty. All three tries were converted to give Pooler a commanding 21-0 lead. A bout of handbags resulted in Brooks and Party from Glynneath being yellow carded which knocked Pontypool out of their stride for a few minutes  before a great pass from Mills allowed Davies to burst through and run around forty metres to score. The try was unconverted but at 26-0 Pooler had secured a bonus point and looked to have built up an unassailable lead at half time.

Glynneath had obviously been treated to a few wise words during the interval and presented a much stiffer challenge playing down the slope. Their backs ran the ball at every opportunity and the match became far more evenly contested. Both sides brought on replacements and as always it disrupted the flow of the game as they got up to speed. It was Pontypool who finally broke the second half deadlock when Norton latched on to a kick ahead at pace and crossed near the posts to bring the score to 33-0.

Pontypool seemed to relax and were also reduced to fourteen men by a yellow card for Laing and the Glynneath backs seized the opportunity to show what they could do. They ran in three tries in the last ten minutes of the match to bring the final score to 33-17.

So a good win for Pooler in a very enjoyable and open game of rugby. This should put them in good heart for the visit to Cardiff Met next week. This match up has been blighted by bouts of fisticuffs in the past and Pooler need to keep their discipline this time.

For my part, I am making the trip to Edinburgh to watch Wales. Both the Scots and the French looked quite impressive in their match yesterday. With the match against Scotland being followed by a trip to Paris, Wales will need to be on their mettle or they could find themselves with three straight losses. The Welsh team suffered a number of head injuries against England and this could significantly weaken their scarce resources. It certainly underlines what a tough and physical game it is at the highest level as concussion type injuries happen all too frequently.

I guess the only headache I am likely to have next weekend will be caused by too many pints of heavy! Come on Wales and come on Pooler