Thrills and Spills as Pooler Take the Spoils at the Gnoll

Pontypool were back in action after the Six Nations Championship with a visit to the Gnoll in Neath. Watching Pooler in 2024 seems to have been severely rationed so it was good to get back to it on a bright sunny day after the trauma of a distinctly underwhelming set of Welsh defeats. Bright and sunny it might have been but there was a keen edge to the wind.

It was Neath that made the early running and soon left wing Griffiths was haring down the touchline from his own twenty two. The Pooler defence finally managed to pull him down but in the ensuing breakdown they transgressed and Williams kicked the penalty to give the home side a 3-0 lead with only a few minutes played.

Pooler got into their stride a lot quicker than in some of matches of late and played some good positive attacking rugby. Backs and forwards combined and eventually Mahoney saw a gap and powered through to score. Jarvis converted and Pooler took the lead (3-7)

Back came Neath and centre Charles bumped off would-be tacklers galore as he raced to score under the posts. With the conversion from Williams, Neath were back in the lead (10-7). The game had the look of an open entertaining encounter with both sides willing to throw the ball about.

A critical moment came just before the half hour when the first scrum took place. It was immediately clear that Pooler held the whip-hand in this phase. A series of scrums led to a series of penalties as Pooler pressurised the Neath line. Eventually the referee had seen enough and awarded Pooler a penalty try. As the players disentangled themselves, there was some skulduggery from Neath prop Powell. This was spotted by the officials and led to a red card (10-14).

Pooler took full advantage of Neath’s reduction to fourteen players when a couple of minutes later Herbert drove over after powerful carrying by the Pooler pack from a lineout in the home twenty-two. Jarvis converted and things were looking rosy for Pontypool at 10-21.

Did Pooler relax or did Neath step up their game – possibly a bit of both – but suddenly the game turned on its head. The Neath number 8, Morgan, brushed weak Pooler tackling aside to power over the try line from at least twenty metres. Williams converted and there was a distinct feeling that the momentum had switched to the home side (17-21).

Minutes later, the home side were attacking down the left side again and nearly scored. This time the referee felt that Matthews had unfairly prevented Neath from pressing home their attack and found himself in the sin bin. Almost immediately afterwards the Neath backs put left wing Griffiths in for a try in the corner. Williams converted and Neath had regained the lead ( 24-21).

Things go worse for Pooler when they lost Mahoney to a yellow card after some unnecessary argy-bargy. Fortunately, there was little time for Neath to take advantage of their numerical supremacy before half time. HT Neath 24 : Pontypool 21.

It had been an entertaining first half that was for sure with the lead changing hands five times. It was hard to choose a winner but surely Neath being permanently down to fourteen and the power of the Pooler scrum would be enough to get things done.

Pontypool made some changes at half time and started the second half with purpose. There was frustrating period of around ten minutes when Pooler leaked penalties when they got into promising positions. It was clear, however, that Pooler were gaining the upper hand in possession and territory. Neath defended stoutly and their backs were still menacing when they got the ball but the breakthrough would surely come for the away side.

It was Mahoney who did the necessary soon after returning from his yellow card.  He scored his second try as he burst through the Neath defence. Jarvis converted and Pooler had secured a bonus point and, more importantly, had taken back the lead (24-28).

Pontypool remained on top but continued to leak penalties. The four point lead felt precarious as Neath were certainly not going to back off. It was not until the fourth quarter that Pooler managed to turn possession into points. Some great running and passing from the backs saw substitute wing Marcus Jones score in the left corner. Jarvis converted with aplomb and the Pooler fans felt a little more comfortable with an eleven point cushion at 24-35.

Pooler remained the dominant force but continued to frustrate. Finally, after Neath were reduced to thirteen men by a yellow card for their substitute prop at a scrum, Pooler scored their sixth try. This was scored by Scarfe who was lurking with intent on the right wing. The conversion failed and this was the final act in an all-action game. Final score Neath 21 : Pontypool 40.

Any win at Neath is a good and hard-earned win so congratulations to Pontypool. It was an entertaining game and Neath though reduced to fourteen men after half an hour made things extremely difficult for Pooler. Keeping Neath scoreless in the second half was no mean feat. Pooler will know that their discipline let them down at times but they did play some great rugby when they put pace on the game. It would be nice to think that we could play Neath next season but as things stand this looks rather unlikely. They are a fine club and I wish them well whatever happens.

Next up for Pontypool is a home game against Bridgend. This should be another cracking encounter.

Come on Pooler!