Pooler Clinch the Championship

Pontypool needed to get rid of the pangs of disappointment from the rather chastening defeat at Cardiff Met. University the previous week. The day’s opponents were Glamorgan Wanderers who visited Pontypool Park needing a victory to lift themselves out of the relegation dogfight that has developed in the bottom half of the Championship. At the other end of the table, Pooler knew that any kind of win would secure the Championship with a couple of games to spare.

Heavy overnight rain and some sharp showers during the day had left the playing surface damp and slippery. Mercifully it wasn’t actually raining when the Wanderers kicked off playing down the slope. Pontypool started brightly enough and it looked like the Wanderers were going to have a tough afternoon as the home pack drove remorselessly forward. Rusby Davies soon powered over for a try which went unconverted but Pontypool were on their way (5-0) – or so we thought.

The next half an hour contained some pretty turgid stuff with Pooler unable to make any impression on Glamorgan Wanderers or the scoreboard. The tricky playing conditions and the referee’s obsession with getting each scrum exactly right certainly didn’t help. The away side snuffed out any momentum that Pooler developed by competing strongly at the breakdown and it looked like a stalemate was developing.

As halftime approached, Pooler at last created an overlap in the Wanderers twenty two only for Rudd to deliberately knock on what could have been the scoring pass. Rudd got a deserved yellow card and Pooler kicked for the corner. From the lineout, the home side drover over with Parry claiming the touchdown. The conversion failed but Pontypool had doubled their lead (10-0). And that was basically it for the first half –certainly not very inspiring and the visitors still in touching distance.

The second half started with Pooler conceding a string of penalties mainly for offences at the breakdown. This obviously gave the Wanderers the initiative and their confidence began to grow. Indeed it was only a strong defensive effort from the home side that kept them out. The supporters on the Bank began to shuffle uncomfortably as they could see a tense finish developing.

Both sides fought hard to gain control and the match became ever more scrappy. Early in the third quarter, the Wanderers ended the stalemate with a penalty from Fish which put them within a score at 10-3.   Fortunately for Pooler, the Wanderers conceded a penalty from the kick off and Jones was able to do the necessary and re-establish the ten point lead at 13-3. This was quickly followed by another penalty by Jones (16-3) and we could all breathe a little easier.

Pontypool were in control for the last ten minutes of the match and, in the last minute, Callum Davies reacted quickest when the ball shot out of a scrum near the Wanderers line to touch down for a try. The conversion was successful and the final score of 23-3 rather flattered the home side.

The result means that Pontypool cannot be caught at the top of the Championship so take the title with two games to spare. A brilliant achievement - cue the champagne!

This was a pretty low quality game but the ends justify the means as far as Pontypool are concerned. Hopefully they will now be able to play with more freedom and enjoy themselves in the last two fixtures.

The current Championship table certainly makes good reading but you can see how tight it is at the bottom for the second relegation spot.

	Team	P	W	D	L	For	Agnst	BPts	Pts
1	Pontypool	20	19	0	1	719	233	12	88
2	Narberth	20	16	0	4	602	308	12	76
3	Beddau	22	14	0	8	535	397	14	70
4	Tata Steel	20	13	0	7	516	370	12	64
5	Newcastle Emlyn	20	9	1	10	350	468	9	47
6	Glynneath	21	10	0	11	331	453	4	44
7	Cardiff Met	21	9	0	12	355	548	5	41
8	Glamorgan Wand	21	7	1	13	392	440	11	41
9	Skewen	21	8	1	12	303	400	6	40
10	Bedlinog	20	7	1	12	346	392	9	39
11	Newbridge	20	7	0	13	310	492	7	35
12	Dunvant	20	2	0	18	403	661	8	16

I did watch some of the European rugby on the TV and Leinster and Munster certainly look very impressive. With, either Clermont or Toulon, and probably Saracens, the semi-finals of the Champions Cup look pretty tasty. I did see the second half of Gloucester versus the Blues in the Challenge Cup and the Blues seemed to throw away a promising position with some pretty basic errors. Let’s hope the Ospreys can fly the Welsh flag and avoid a semi-final Wexit.

Pontypool play Tata Steel next week at the Park. Tata were their nearest rivals for a long period of the season but seem to have fallen away a little bit. Let’s hope we can have a competitive and entertaining game next Saturday – with pooler coming out on top.

Congratulations Pooler, you have done us proud this season.