Mike Herbert was delighted to be back out on the pitch as he returned to the team to help Pontypool RFC complete a second-half comeback against Trebanos RFC in the WRU Admiral National Championship.
The flanker was in the thick of the action at Pontypool Park on his first appearance since January 2020, and even marked his return with a try that clinched the bonus point.
Lloyd Lewis also made an impact on his first appearance of the season with a brace. Sam Scarfe came off the bench to crash over twice and he was joined on the scoresheet by Darren Hughes and Amosa Nove.
Outside-half Matthew Jarvis kicked the rest of the points to ensure it was a winning return for Curtis Gregory, Lewis and Herbert.
“I’ve been working hard in training so it’s good to get out there and blow the cobwebs off,” exclaimed Herbert, who made his 30th league start for the club.
“It’s been a frustrating time being injured but it’s good to be back.”
It was the first game in six weeks for the squad and Herbert felt that break played a part in the slow start.
“We’ve had a lot of time off, it’s been stop-start so it takes a bit [of time] and the pitch is quite heavy.
“It’s one of those things but we dug in, regrouped at half time and put on a display.
“We just stopped panicking and let it flow and it spoke for itself.
“We upped the work rate off the ball and around the park and that gave us the opportunity to play.
“It’s really tough to get going when you are stop-starting. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we’ve got a good run of games so we can get into it and play some nice rugby.”
