Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

It has been agony, I have missed four, yes four, Pooler matches in as many weeks. All down to bad planning as I mistakenly thought that there wouldn’t be so much Championship rugby in April. I have been in Asia for a couple of weeks or so and collected a dicky stomach somewhere along the way which prevented me venturing too far from the bathroom on my return. I of course maintained a watching brief and was delighted to see that Pooler continued their winning ways in the Championship and have already clinched the title with matches to spare My good friend Steve Parfitt gave me his own inimitable verdict on the matches and that coupled with the official match reports gave a really good impression on the matches. 

For the record, the outcomes of the three league matches that I missed were: a nailbiting bonus point win in a points spree at Cardiff Met (40-41), a fairly comfortable if unconvincing home bonus point victory against Bedlinog (38-21) and a week later another narrow victory this time at Bedlinog (16-19).  All this means that Pontypool now have accumulated 91 points with three matches to play, second placed Narberth are on 72 points with only one match remaining. A third Championship title in three years and a run of 44 undefeated league games. This is pretty special stuff! Congratulations to all at the club.

Then there was the tremendous run in the National Cup and I was devastated to miss the semi-final against mighty Merthyr at Ebbw Vale. Pontypool obviously put up a great show against the strongest club side in Wales and with a bit of luck could even have taken the spoils. As it was, Pooler lost 18-20 and left the field with their heads held high having given the favourites a torrid afternoon. Pooler fans were surely proud, happy and disappointed at the same time but it yet again demonstrates that the club is more than capable of competing at Premiership level. Well done Pooler!

Pontypool are left with two objectives for the season: to win their remaining three league games and then to try and earn a place in the slimmed down twelve team Premiership through the play off against the fifth from bottom side. The latter I am sure is the key objective and is what the club has been working towards for so long. The big question is who will be the opposition? Three of the four automatic relegation places have already been decided with Neath, Bargoed and Cross Keys already condemned. This now leaves Bedwas, Bridgend and Llanelli scrapping to decide who goes down, who stays up and who goes into the play off. The current state of play is:

Position           Club                            Played             Points

11^th                  Llanelli                          29                    58

12^th                  Bedwas                        28                    52

13^th                  Bridgend                       26                    50

Llanelli’s only remaining game is home to Neath so they would anticipate ending up on 63 points which would mean that they would definitely avoid automatic relegation.

Bedwas have to play Aberavon away and Swansea at home. Neither are easy fixtures although Aberavon and Swansea have little to play for but pride. Bedwas would do well to get eight points to end on 60 - athough 62 is of course possible.

Bridgend have four games remaining: Bargoed away, Cross Keys at home, Aberavon away and Pontypridd away. They would hope to get two wins against the already relegated Bargoed and Cross Keys although winning at Bargoed is never easy. Finishing with two away local derbys is also pretty demanding. A haul for Bridgend of 13 points out of the 20 available would see Bedwas relegated. If they manage 14 points or more they would be safe and Llanelli would be in the play off provided they beat Neath. Less than 13 points and who knows.

Aargh! My brain hurts! It is going down to the wire that is for sure and let us hope the outcome is not influenced too much by the release of regional players to strengthen the club sides.

No matter what the final outcome Pontypool will face a daunting challenge that is for certain. In the meantime, Pontypool have an away fixture at Tata Steel on Saturday and I am looking forward to being there.

I was also really delighted to hear the positive news about the future of Pontypool Park. Rugby wouldn’t be the same without it.

Come on Pooler!