Leighton Jones insists he is taking games “week by week” following Pontypool RFC’s dominant victory over Ystrad Rhondda RFC in the WRU Admiral National Championship.
Pooler travelled west to take on Ystrad ahead of mammoth clashes against Bargoed RFC and Cross Keys RFC to come over the next fortnight but the only thought in Jones’ mind was to put in a good performance at Gelligaled Park and take home valuable points.
Pooler got off the mark in the opening minutes when Garin Price went over. Mike Herbert and Pat Lewis followed him over and replacement scrum-half Mike Hale bagged the bonus point on the stroke of half time with Matthew Jarvis kicking all four conversions.
The hosts battled hard throughout the game and pulled a try back after the restart through Aron Clarke but three tries in nine minutes from Adam Stratton, Lloyd Lewis and Joel Mahoney pulled Pooler clear before Mahoney added another at the death. Ethan Davies showcased his kicking ability to score all four second-half conversions.
“We came with a game plan, we won a few collisions at the start and got over the gain line, which allowed us to play that free-flowing rugby,” explained Jones.
“Not everything went to plan, we did try a few miracle offloads, which cost us a couple of tries.
“They came back at us in the second half and put us under pressure and tested our defence.
“All in all it was a pleasing day.
“We take everyone week by week, we don’t look too far ahead.
“We give everyone the respect they deserve so we haven’t looked at next week or the week after.
“We wanted to put a solid performance in this week, I think the boys have done that and we will assess some positives and some work-ons and go into next week focusing on Bargoed RFC.”
Pontypool finished the game with two teenage props in the front row in Sam Scarfe and debutant Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths as the club showed some of the next generation.
“We had a few props go down injured this week and young Dylan was free this weekend so he has come in and he put a shift in,” continued Jones.
“He had about 25 minutes, it was good to see him out there and he came off the field smiling.
“He was in the thick of everything, he put some physical hits in and a couple of carries so it was nice to see another young boy get the Pooler jersey on.
“He enjoyed it and we’ve enjoyed having him here. He’s a promising kid with plenty of potential.
“I think Dylan and Sam have played a fair bit of rugby together so it was nice to see them spend a bit of time together in the Pooler jersey.
“They were quite comfortable in the front row together, they worked around the field really well and they complimented each other.”
