Hugely frustrating defeat for Pooler up north

Pontypool made the very long journey to Colwyn Bay last weekend when, on Saturday, they faced RGC 1404 at Stadiwm Eirias in Super Rygbi Cymru but came away, very frustrated and with another defeat, writes Ray Ruddick.

RGC 1404 kicked off attacking the changing rooms end of the ground on a chilly and windy afternoon on the North Wales coast. RGC didn’t take long to get into their stride, and it was as early as the third minute when they struck first when full back Dion Jones found space and crossed for a try, 10 metres in from the right corner. The conversion attempt struck the right upright and went wide (5-0). Six minutes later the Gogs handled well and strung together some telling passes and centre Delwyn Jones finished the move well when he touched town 15 metres in from the right corner. Outside half Billy McBryde converted (12-0). In the 14^th minute the home side went further ahead when more great handling put left wing Caio Parry in the clear and he sped along the wing and scored in the corner. Billy McBryde added the extras with a fine kick (19-0).

RGC were now playing with plenty of pace and handling superbly, and Pontypool were shell-shocked. Pooler responded well and managed to calm RGC’s threat. In the 26^th minute Pontypool had a scrum feed just outside the Gogs’ 22. Pooler’s young scrum half Morgan Lloyd broke from the base, went through a gap in the home defence and crossed for a fine try near the posts. Outside Harri Ford slotted the conversion (19-7). Then, just before the interval, Pooler were putting RGC’s defence under some pressure with play deep inside the home 22. Pontypool were awarded a penalty near the home goal line and took a tap when second row Dan Hill, with the help of the rest of his forwards, drove over for an unconverted try, 17 metres in from the left corner. So, at half-time Pooler pulled the score back to a respectable RGC 1404 19 Pontypool 12, after a very shaky start.

In the sixth minute of the second period RGC went further ahead when they scored their bonus-point try – flanker Dafydd Thirsk barged over to the left of the posts. Billy McBryde converted (26-12). Pontypool had some work to do and took the game to their hosts. They asked questions of the home defence by creating chances but could not finish them off due to dropped passes, players being isolated and a malfunctioning line-out. Pontypool made all eight replacements in the last half-an-hour or so of the game, but the fresh legs could not make a difference to the score line. In the 49^th minute Pooler made two changes in the front row with loose head prop Jake Wisniewski making way for Sam Cochrane and Evan Wood taking over from hooker Aneurin James. Ten minutes later Ioan Duggan replaced Rhys Cole on Pontypool’s right wing. With 15 minutes remaining Kyan Best took over from Pooler’s tight head prop Kelvyn Williams. A minute later RGC’s tight head prop Patrick Nelson was yellow-carded for an offence inside the Gogs’ 22. Further Pontypool changes in the last 10 minutes saw Callum Davies replacing flanker Lloyd Riley, Liam Antrobus took over from Dan Hill, Morgan Lloyd made way for Logan Franklin and centre Ioan Evans replaced by Amosa Nove. Final score: RGC 1404 26 Pontypool 12.

Congratulations to RGC on their deserved victory and thus gaining the double over Pontypool, having won 23-14 at Pontypool Park back in September. Also well done to Amber Stamp, who is the first female referee to take charge of a Pontypool game and had a very good match. Good luck and best wishes to Amber for her future in refereeing, I am sure she will serve this great game of ours with distinction. It was another hugely disappointing result for Pooler. After RGC went into a 19-0 lead with barely a quarter-of-an-hour played, most Pooler supporters who made the trip were fearing the worst. However, Pooler played better in the last 15 minutes of the first half, scored two tries and were within a converted try of RGC at the break. It was the second half that proved hugely frustrating as, despite having the lion’s share of territory and possession, and with the wind in Pooler’s favour, they could not turn pressure into points, due to a combination of poor finishing and some resolute defending by the Gogs. There was an improvement in the scrums but the line-out, which did not function at all well, and unforced errors contributed to Pooler’s downfall. It doesn’t get any easier for Pontypool as they now look forward to back-to-back games over the Christmas period with league leaders and near neighbours Ebbw Vale. The first will be this Saturday with Pooler visiting the Ciner Glass Community Stadium and then Ebbw will be welcome visitors to Pontypool Park the Saturday between Christmas and the New Year (27^th December). Both games will kick-off at 2.30pm.

RGC 1404: Dion Jones, Sam Jones, Louis Williams, Delwyn Jones, Caio Parry, Billy McBryde, Conor Dever, Gareth Parry, Jac Petch-Jones, Patrick Nelson, James Brown, Billy McQueeney, Harper Chamberlain, Dafydd Thirsk and Sam Williams (captain). Replacements: Osian Burt, Christian Hone, Oliver Roe, Will Kellett, Tal Taylor, Celt Ffransis-Roberts, Tudur Jones and Osian Llewellyn.

Pontypool: Carrick McDonough, Rhys Cole (replaced by Ioan Duggan), Ioan Evans (replaced by Amosa Nove), Joel Mahoney, Marcus Jones, Harri Ford, Morgan Lloyd (replaced by Logan Franklin), Jake Wisniewski (replaced by Sam Cochrane), Aneurin James (replaced by Evan Wood), Kelvyn Williams (replaced by Kyan Best), Joe Davies, Dan Hill (replaced by Liam Antrobus), Scott Matthews (captain), Lloyd Riley (replaced by Callum Davies) and Ieuan Jones.