Rugby on a sunny Easter day at Pontypool Park brings back a flood of memories. Unbelievable as it now sounds, Pontypool along with the other clubs played three of four matches over the Easter holiday period. These days we only have one match to look forward to and this was against long time opponents Glamorgan Wanderers in the Welsh Championship.
Pontypool played up the slope in the first half and
started as if they wanted to pack three or four matches scoring into one. Just
a few minutes after the kickoff they were awarded a penalty try as they shunted
the Wanderers’ scrum back over their goal line (7-0). It was soon clear that
the physicality of Pontypool’s defence and the pace and power of their backs were
going to cause the Wanderers’ team unsurmountable difficulties. With just ten
minutes gone, Pooler had racked up another two tries as first Thomas and then Powell
cut through the defence. Thomas scored himself but Powell was tackled just
short of the line and fed Langdon who scored in the corner. Jarvis failed
narrowly with both conversions but Pooler were 17-0 to the good.
Pooler rather lost their concentration from the second
kick-off and made a mess of clearing their line. So much so that Wanderers were
able to score as prop Sully barged over for a try. Taylor converted and the gap
was reduced to 17-7.
Pontypool retaliated in style when a planned move from
a lineout saw Jones feed Mahoney to gallop in for a try which secured the bonus
point. Normal service was resumed as Jarvis landed the conversion (24-7). As the
first quarter ended, Powell showed his pace and power to score a brilliant solo
try in the right corner. Jarvis converted and Pooler, all of a sudden, had increased
their lead to 31-7.
Pooler struggled to get decent possession for a period as their lineout did not function well and they were guilty of the occasional handling error. On the half hour, however, Thomas burst through the away side’s defence to score from inside his own half and with the successful conversion it was now 38-7.
The Wanderers were still working hard and were not
about to give up and, after a period of pressure, flanker Shinton bullocked
over for a try that went unconverted (38-12). Again, Pooler struck back in some
style running another two tries before half time. Skipper Herbert scored the first
when he burst through the defence and showed his pace to score from just inside
the Wanderers’ half. The second was scored by Smith after Pooler created a
large overlap. Jarvis converted both tries and at half time Pontypool had amassed
a half century of points to lead 52-12.
The second half brought more agony for the doughty
Glamorgan Wanderers as Pooler continued to rack up the points. In the first few
minutes a powerful forward drive saw Sweet touch down for a converted try (59-12).
A couple minutes later a thrust from Nove was supported by Smith who scored his
second try which was again converted by Jarvis (66-12).
Both Wanderers and Pooler were using their benches to
refresh things and Pooler’s furious scoring rate slowed down as the changes
bedded in. As the third quarter ended, the lively Powell, who had been almost
too hot for the Wanderers to handle, made another superb break from long range.
He was tackled but fed substitute scrum half Leonard who sprinted to touch down
for Pooler’s eleventh try which was again converted by the metronomic Jarvis
(73-12). Ten minutes later a quickly taken tapped penalty saw Sweet crash over
for his second try and another successful conversion (80-12)
As the game entered the final ten minutes, we began to
speculate on whether Pooler could bring up the century. Another cracking break
from Powell found Price in support and the flanker scored under the posts
leaving a simple conversion for Jarvis (87-12). A few minutes later a lineout
in the Wanderers half saw substitute hooker Scarfe break around the front of
the lineout. The ball was spread wide and found Thomas in space and he cantered
in for his third try of the afternoon. The conversion brought Pooler to within
touching distance of a century at 94-12.
Straight from the kick-off Price bumped off would-be
tackles and charged down field. He was tackled but from the breakdown the ball
was spread left and Nove squeezed in at the corner. This left a difficult
conversion but Jarvis made light work of it to bring up the century (101-12).
The agony was not quite over for the brave Wanderers
as from the last play of the game Jarvis found his way to the line to score a try that
he converted which gave a final score of Pontypool 108 : Glamorgan Wanderers 12.
Despite the Wanderers’ best efforts, this was a demolition
with Pooler scoring sixteen tries. The Pooler backs were too hot to handle with
a goodly proportion of the tries scored from long range. Even after such a
convincing win, there are things to work on with two big games coming up in the
next couple of weeks. First, there is the prospect of an away game against
Bargoed which is guaranteed to be a tough examination. A win there would really
put Pooler in the box seat for promotion but they have come unstuck there in
the past. The following weekend sees Pooler take on Ystrad Rhondda in the
Championship cup final in Cardiff. It is a great time to be a Pooler supporter!
Come on Pooler!
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