Pooler celebrate a wonderful season with their Annual Dinner and Presentation Evening at The Parkway and Spa.
Around 150 guests were present at Pontypool’s Annual Dinner and Presentation Evening at The Parkway Hotel and Spa in Cwmbran on Friday evening, writes Ray Ruddick. It was a celebration of a highly successful season with the club being crowned WRU National Championship champions as well as having a very impressive WRU National Cup run. The evening was compered by Peter Jeffreys, Executive Chairman of Pontypool RFC and the guest speaker was the former Pontypool, Swansea and Wales hooker Garin Jenkins, who had his audience in laughter with stories from his playing days.
The awards were as follows:
Captain’s Award – Ben Parry
Supporter’s Player of the Season – Gareth Rusby-Davies
M5 Associates Player of the Season – Gareth Rusby-Davies
Highest Points Scorer – Matthew Jones (228)
Top Try Scorer – Rhodri Usher (12)
Most Promising Player of the Season – Ollie Drake
Player’s Player of the Season – Aaron Quick
Most league appearances for the club – Jamie Jeune (215)
100+ Appearances – Rob Nash (107), Ben Parry (100) and Jordan Williams (100)
50+ Appearances – Marc Thorley (63) and Ben Sparks (60)
24 of the playing squad were in attendance and each was presented with their WRU National Championship-winning medal – Ben Parry, Matthew Jones. Rhodri Usher, Clayton Gullis, Jordan Williams, Elliott Ferriman, Matthew Thomas, Ben Sparks, Aaron Quick, Nathan Brooks, Richard East, Marc Thorley, Rob Nash, Kieran Meek, Tomas Sparey, Ollie Drake, Ashley Gibson, Curtis Gregory, Sam Watkins, Alex Watkins, Sione Tu’ipulotu, Aaron Coundley, Tom Hancock, Callum Davies
The two most prestigious awards are the Player of the Season and Clubman of the Season. The Player of the Season award went to loose head prop Aaron Coundley for his consistently good performances throughout the campaign.
The Clubman of the Season award is a fitting tribute to head baggage man Terry “Tiger” Simons. A loyal, committed and dedicated clubman, “Tiger”, has been a supporter of Pontypool RFC since the 1950s. He started his close involvement with the club in 1970 when he assisted with the hospitality on match days. Then, in the early 1980s, he assisted with the kit for Pontypool’s second XV (Pontypool Athletic) before moving on to the first team a couple of seasons after and has been in this role every since. He served on the club’s committee from 1984 to 1987. “Tiger” will soon be celebrating his 82nd birthday and this is a wonderful early birthday present from the club which is very close to his heart.
