By Rob Cole
You have to hand it to Pontypool – put them under pressure and they nearly always deliver.
They may have won three Specsavers National Championship titles in a row, but a fourth one this season is what they really want to finally guarantee a return to the top tier of the semi-pro game in Wales.
If there was agony in the play-off game against Llanelli at the end of last season, there was ecstacy at the weekend as they rose to the occasion in their biggest game of the season against similarly unbeaten Bargoed.
There were some great old faces at Pontypool Park as Graham Price and Charlie Faulkner turned up to watch their old club and it turned into a great rugby occasion and game, with a packed stand and terrace.
To their credit, Bargoed threw the kitchen sink at the reigning champions, yet still came up short in a crucial promotion battle.
Full praise to the home side, who were forced to dig deeper than ever before this season to pick up a 13-10 victory to make it 58 wins in a row in the Championship. Yet on the hour mark a first defeat at Pontypool Park since March, 2017, looked a distinct possibility.
“I was hugely proud of how the boys dug deep and never stopped playing until the final whistle. It’s been a solid first half to the season for us, but there’s still a lot of rugby to play,” said head coach Leighton Jones.
Two Kieran Meek penalties had put Pooler 6-0 up, but the visitors hit back to lead 7-6 at half time thanks to Josh Prosser’s try which was converted by Steffan Jones. Jones extended that lead to 10-6 at the start of the second half.
But proud Pooler refused to be denied and there were scenes of jubilation when Lloyd Lewis collected a pass over the top from Richard Powell to race over at the posts and complete his score with a spectacular dive. He had every right to celebrate in style – it was his 29th try in 29 games for the club!
Serious welcome at the weekend.
👊👊👊#bestfansintheworld pic.twitter.com/2VQ3kGhc8H
— Pontypool RFC (@PontypoolRFC) December 16, 2019
Meek took care of the extras and while Pontypool extended their remarkable unbeaten run, Bargoed tasted defeat for the first time this season. After eight straight bonus-point victories Bargoed now trail the champions by 11 points with a game in hand.
They host second placed Bedwas in their next outing on 28 December. Bedwas, who dropped down from the Premiership last season with Bargoed, are also 11 points behind the champions but have two games in hand.
They thrashed Glamorgan Wanderers 54-5 to make it nine wins from nine and move into second. Greg Callow and Matthew Williams both went over twice with Craig Hudd, Owain Keane, James Richards and Rory Harries the Wass’ other try scorers. Brad Williams converted seven of the eight tries.
Lloyd Lewis’ match winning score against Bargoed yesterday was his 29th try in 29 games for the club.
🔥🔥🔥
📸 – @NCRphotography pic.twitter.com/jWBvc4lLuj
— Pontypool RFC (@PontypoolRFC) December 15, 2019
That defeat for the Wanderers saw them slip from fourth to fifth and be overtaken by Cardiff Met, who got the better of Maesteg Quins 47-18. Meanwhile, Cross Keys made it back-to-back wins as four Kieran Hill penalties saw them win 12-7 at bottom club Ystrad Rhondda.
A hat-trick from Roy Osborne inspired Narberth to a 44-0 victory over Ystalyfera. Joe Hutchings, twice, and Tom Powell also scored for the Otters. Nick Gale kicked the rest.
Neath beat Tata Steel 27-12 thanks to tries from Jacob Blackmore, Liam Tobias, Ben Atkins and James Roberts while a late Cameron Ellis score saw Beddau win 15-10 at Trebanos.
