Gallant Pooler Fall at the Final Hurdle

The Pontypool v Llanelli match to decide who had the twelfth and final place on next season’s Welsh Premiership felt like a throwback to yesteryear. It was played on neutral territory in Aberavon and the Wizards’ treasurer must have been beaming as the tills were working overtime in the clubhouse before the match as both sets of fans fortified themselves before the critical encounter. It is fair to say that the Pooler Army outnumbered the Turks considerably and were in fine form.

There will be a lot of argument as to why Pontypool even had to play this match as they had won the Championship by a street and should really have been given automatic promotion to the Premiership. Instead, rather bizarrely, the bottom four sides in the Premiership were relegated and Pooler were required to play off against the side finishing twelfth in the Premiership. This came about because of the WRU decision to reduce the size of the Premiership to twelve from sixteen clubs. I have yet to meet any rugby fan who thinks that this is a good idea.

So to the match. Llanelli had been in a rich vein of form since the stark recognition that they might be relegated. The team had been strengthened considerably by the use of Scarlets’ squad members and had led to them pulling away from the bottom. Bridgend had come up with a similar strategy using Ospreys’ players and had managed to just pip Llanelli for eleventh place and safety. The use of professional players by Llanelli clearly was going to make Pontypool’s task that much harder but they could not dwell on that and just had to go out there and give it their all. The match was refereed by the redoubtable Nigel Owens who would have the benefit of TMO to assist his decision-making.

There were warning signs early on as Llanelli demonstrated how dangerous their backs could be. Pooler could not afford to miss a tackle as the pace and support play of Llanelli was a major threat. As has often been the case against Premiership opposition, Pooler took a while to acclimatise to the increased speed of the game. They were helped considerably by an early yellow card to Llanelli lock Long for a deliberate knock-on. This gave the Pooler pack a chance to gain a slight edge over their opponents. Pooler started to put a few attacks together and wing Lloyd Lewis came within an ace of opening the scoring but the bounce of the ball just defeated him as he looked set to score in the corner.

As we went into the second quarter, Llanelli continued to look dangerous with ball in hand but were hampered by a second yellow card this time for fullback Evans for an offence at a ruck. Shortly afterwards, Pontypool hooker Hughes nearly scored following a charge down by Gregory but was held up just short of the line. Nevertheless Pontypool drew first blood with a penalty from Meek (3-0).

Llanelli came back strongly straight from the kick-off and very nearly scored but the TMO confirmed that Davies had lost control of the ball over the line. A close shave for Pooler who responded with a second penalty from Meek to take a 6-0 lead as the first half was drawing to a close.

Llanelli still had time to work their way into the Pooler twenty two and from a driving lineout that most of the Llanelli team joined they powered over the Pooler line for the game’s opening try. The touchdown was credited to Davies and with Prydie’s touchline conversion Llanelli were in the lead at halftime (6-7). It was nip and tuck with everything on the line

In the second half it was Llanelli substitute threequarter Conbeer who had been released at the last minute by the Welsh Sevens squad who was to play the starring role. Straight from the kick off he made a searing break and was just prevented from scoring by a last ditch Pooler tackle. This was a sign of what was to come.

After that early shock, Pooler did manage to regain their composure and even retook the lead with a third penalty from Meek (9-7). The lead did not last long as a long range penalty from Prydie gave Llanelli the edge at 9-10. Pontypool were still in there fighting hard but you could sense that Llanelli were getting on top. The Pooler Army who had been giving tremendous support managed to up it further to try and lift their favourites to one last titanic effort. Pontypool’s backs could make little headway against the line speed of the Llanelli defence and their opponents’ ability to slow the ball down at the breakdown

The turning point came as we entered the last quarter after a series of resets a Pontypool scrum on their own ten metre line disintegrated under pressure from the Llanelli eight. A penalty was awarded and Prydie again obliged to give Llanelli a bit of breathing space at 9-13. Shortly afterwards a deft grubber kick from Llanelli centre Hughes was gathered by Conbeer to dot down for Llanelli’s second try of the game. With Prydie’s conversion the score looked ominous for Pooler at 9-20.

Llanelli now sensed that the game was theirs and went for the jugular. Another break by Conbeer from deep was well supported and Rees scored their third try. Prydie again converted from wide out and Pooler’s fate was sealed as Llanelli had pulled away at 9-27.

Pontypool were playing for pride now and they had plenty of that. They battered away at the Llanelli line and finally they got their reward with a try from Matthews that was converted by Meek (16-27). Sadly this was just a consolation as the game had already been lost and Llanelli fully deserved their victory – final score Pontypool 16 Llanelli 27.

A great effort from Pontypool but ultimately Llanelli possessed the cutting edge that Pooler lacked. The try count of 1-3 tells the story and really Llanelli could have scored a few more but for losing the ball at the critical moment. It is no disgrace to lose against a side containing many professional rugby players and Pontypool were well in the game for around an hour. On the night, the challenge was just too great but it was not for the want of effort and commitment. The Pooler Army were in magnificent voice and never let up throughout the match. It must have shown the Premiership just what they are missing as too many Premiership games seem very poorly attended.

Well done Pooler for another brilliant season. I am sure the club will come back even stronger next term. There will certainly be a lot of Gwent derbies in a very competitive looking Championship.

Hard luck Pooler! See you next season.