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
11th Llanelli 29 58
12th Bedwas 28 52
13th 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!
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