A totally committed performance earned Pooler an away draw with the Black-and-Ambers

Round two of the Super Rygbi Cymru Cup competition saw Pontypool travel the short distance to Newport Stadium on a very wet, cold and windy Thursday evening at the end of January with both clubs winning their opening matches, writes Ray Ruddick. The previous Saturday Newport gained a 40-12 verdict at Carmarthen Quins while Pontypool halted their 7-match losing streak with a very welcome and deserved 21-10 home win over RGC 1404.

Newport kicked off this eagerly awaited derby, defending the road end of the ground. The early exchanges were about equal as both sides cancelled each other out. Then, the deadlock was broken in the 13th minute when Pooler had a five-metre scrum in the right corner. Lively scrum half Morgan Lloyd picked up from the base of the scrum and scurried over for an unconverted try (0-5). Twelve minutes later the Black-and-Ambers replied when, following a penalty for a Pooler offside near the visitors’ goal line, the hosts kicked to the right corner and hooker Henry Palmer got a try 15 metres in, thanks to a telling driving maul. Outside half Jac Lloyd converted (7-5).

In the 36^th minute Newport were penalised near their 10-metre line in midfield and Harri Ford slotted his shot at goal to put the visitors back in front (7-8). Then in the sixth minute of added time at the end of a tight first half, Pooler hooker Sam Scarfe was shown the yellow card for an offence near his own line, after the referee had given Pooler a general warning about their penalty count. The home side kicked to the left corner and, like their first try, Henry Palmer profited from his side’s powerful driving maul and touched down in the left corner for Jac Lloyd to convert with a fine kick. Half time score – Newport 14 Pontypool 8.

In the first minute of the second period, Pooler were forced into a change to cover the scrum when replacement hooker came on to the field in place of right wing Ioan Duggan. In the 50^th minute Newport were penalised in front of their posts and Harri Ford reduced the home advantage to three points with a relatively easy kick at goal (14-11). Two minutes later Pontypool loose head prop Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths was sin-binned for collapsing a scum near Pooler’s 22. Just before the hour mark play was inside Pontypool’s half and Newport centre Joe Westwood took the ball at pace and cut through the visitors’ defence to score a try near the posts. Jac Lloyd added the extras to put the Black-and-Ambers ten points clear (21-11). Pooler centre Ioan Evans took a knock and he was replaced by Marcus Jones and Scott Matthews took over from Ryan Jones in Pontypool’s back row before another scrum re-adjustment for the visitors as loose head prop replacement Jake Wisniewski took over from Ioan Duggan and on the other side of the scrum Kelvyn Williams replaced Owain James.

In the 62^nd minute Pontypool had an attacking scrum feed near the Newport line and number eight and captain Morgan Allen picked up and powered over for a try between the posts and Harri Ford converted (21-18). Four minutes later Pooler made a couple more changes with Louis Rees finally taking over from Ioan Duggan on the right wing and Ieuan Jones replacing Morgan Allen. With about 10 minutes remaining Newport’s loose head prop Tom Devine was yellow carded for an offence 30 metres from his own line in midfield and Harri Ford brought the scores level with a successful penalty attempt (21-21). So, it was all to play for and five minutes later Harri Ford had a chance to put his side in front when Newport were guilty of dropping a knee to the ground at a scrum on the home 10-metre line, but the attempt at goal hit the right post and bounced into play. Both sides put every effort into getting the winning score but after about nine minutes of added time the referee blew for full time with the final score Newport 21 Pontypool 21.

Congratulations to the Pontypool players as this was a totally committed performance, considering Newport’s recent rich vein of form, winning 9 of their previous 10 matches. Rain fell during the match and it was a hard-fought derby played in a good spirit. Pooler’s defence was very good as they tackled and tackled while Newport threw everything at them in the closing stages. A draw was probably a fair result, but it could have been so different if Harri Ford’s late penalty attempt had gone over rather than striking the right upright – just the width of the post! Well done to both sides on a thoroughly entertaining match despite the difficult conditions. Pontypool’s next game in this round robin tournament sees them welcome Carmarthen Quins to Pontypool Park on Saturday 7 February with an earlier than usual kick-off of 1.00pm due to the England v Wales Six Nations game kicking off at 4.40pm.

Newport: Carwyn Penny (replaced by Dafydd Buckland), Fin Baker (replaced by Noah Morgan), Harrison James, Joe Westwood, Morgan Williams, Jac Lloyd, Lucus Welch (replaced by Tom Workman), Tom Devine (replaced by Kobi Rees), Henry Palmer, Garin Harris (replaced by Luke Yendle), Josh Skinner, Callum Bradbury, Ioan Rhys Davies (replaced by Teihi Chatham), Hunter Ward and Ben Roach (captain).

Pontypool: Ewan Rosser, Ioan Duggan (temp replacement Evan Wood, then Jake Wisniewski and eventually Louis Rees), Joel Mahoney, Ioan Evans (replaced by Marcus Jones), Carrick McDonough, Harri Ford, Morgan Lloyd, Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths (replaced by Jake Wisniewski), Sam Scarfe, Owain James (replaced by Kelvyn Williams), Joe Davies, Liam Antrobus, Dan Hill, Ryan Jones (replaced by Scott Matthews) and Morgan Allen (captain, replaced by Ieuan Jones).