Pacey Pooler have the wind in their sails

Grey skies and a strong wind greeted Pontypool for their first home match for more than a month. Mercifully the rain had stopped and the pitch looked in pretty good condition but as always the wind would be bound to have a significant effect on the game. Pontypool’s opponents were Tata Steel who were sitting in mid-table while Pooler were in third place so a home victory was hopefully on the cards.

Pontypool elected to play up the slope in the first half which meant that the powerful swirling wind was if anything against them. For some strange reason they had decided to wear dark blue jerseys while Tata were wearing light blue. The referee decided that it was not the varsity match and Pooler quickly changed into their tradition red, white and black.

Tata had the better of the early stages and it was soon clear that they had a strong pack who were very competitive at scrums and the breakdown. After being pinned in their 22 for a considerable period, Pooler finally broke out and completely against the run of play scored the opening try when Jordan Williams finished off some good passing between backs and forwards. The Pontypool scrum was still struggling and shortly afterwards the referee awarded a penalty try to Tata when the home side were guilty of kicking the ball out of a rapidly retreating scrum close to their line. The successful conversion gave Tata a 5-7 lead.

Pontypool gradually overcame their problems in the scrum and as they gained more quality possession the backs showed that they had the pace to cause the away defence serious problems. Tata were reduced to fourteen men by a yellow card for off side and Pooler swiftly capitalised when Tom Bell scored a try from a lineout just inside the Tata 22. A tremendous conversion from Gullis gave Pooler the lead at 12-7. The home side had one glorious chance to score before the end of the first half but the final pass didn’t go to hand after some great running by the backs. Momentum was clearly with the home side and with the help of the elements in the second half even the most pessimistic Pooler fans felt that a home victory was the most likely outcome.

Pontypool started the second half in the best possible way when Hurley ran a clearance kick back at Tata and after a clean break by Brooks, Lewis crossed near the posts. The successful conversion put the home side 19-7 up within a minute or so of the restart.  Pooler were clearly well on top but it took almost fifteen minutes to score the bonus point try due to stubborn Tata defence and on a few occasions the scoring pass going astray. When the fourth try came it was worth waiting for. A brilliant break by Gullis spilt the defence and Jordan Williams scored wide out. Pooler were leading 24-7 and the game was in the bag.

In the final quarter Pontypool ran riot as the backs cut the bemused Tata defence to ribbons. Four more tries followed with excellent scores by Nash, Quick, Brooks and Hurley. Three of the tries were converted to bring up the half century at 50-7. Tata never gave up trying and were rewarded with the last try of the match which left the final score at 50-14.

This was a really strong performance from Pontypool in pretty difficult conditions. The backs looked sharp and pacey and with a bit more luck could have score several more tries. The forwards were lively in the loose and, once the scrums had settled down, presented the backs with the kind of ball required for them to strut their stuff. Overall a very encouraging performance and you get the feeling that there is still more to come.

This well-deserved victory keeps Pontypool in third place in the Championship but the defeats suffered by RGC 1404 and Bargoed at least puts a bit of daylight between third and fourth place. Pontypool have now played half their matches and are breathing down second placed Swansea’s neck. The game at St Helens just before Xmas promises to be a cracker. Before that, however, Pooler will need to take on Narberth at home next weekend and it will take another big effort to overcome tough opponents.

Come on Pooler!