Sweet: We fight for each other

Friday 10th March 2023
 

Ashley Sweet has spoken of the togetherness within the squad and how they band together when the going gets tough.

It looked to be a difficult afternoon on Saturday when Pat Lewis was sent off on 28 minutes at Trebanos Park.

Pooler were leading 12-0 at the time thanks to tries from Huw Anderson and Mathew Powell.

However, the hosts had been asking plenty of questions of the Pontypool defence and would have a numerical advantage for over 50 minutes.

Sweet and the rest of the team refused to let that be an excuse for the performance to drop and they grabbed a third try just before the break through Peter Lloyd, his fifth in as many games.

Scott Matthews turned on the style in the second to help himself to a hat-trick while constant Pooler pressure was rewarded with a penalty try.

Trebanos did get on the scoresheet courtesy of a Frankie Jones interception try.

“We knew it was going to be tough coming down here,” explained Sweet.

“They are a close-knit group having come from the village.

“When we are on the road everything is going to be tough but it’s about our game and I’m very proud with how the boys stuck at it and got the win.

“We’ve got a good team spirit here, we fight for each other so if that means we go down to 14 players, we’ve got that spirit to fight for each other and keep on going.

“We know our game, the way we want to play and nothing is going to stop that. I’m very proud.

“Every game now is a big one for us.

“It’s every team’s cup final but it’s our cup final as well.

“We know we are top of the league at the moment but we want to stay there so it’s about the togetherness of the team, coming here and getting the job done.”

After a constant run of games, Pooler have had to negotiate breaks in the fixture list with just three games in five weeks.

Sweet believes the pros have outweighed the cons in the recent breaks, helping them recover and refocus ahead of a busy end to the season.

“There was a little bit of rustiness out there but I think it [the break] was a good thing,” he added.

“The boys got together, we had a bit of a pizza night on the Tuesday because that’s the way we want to be.

“We did have a week off to recuperate and take that bit of sting out of it.

“There was a bit of rustiness out there but in the second half we really got going.

“It is stop-start but it gives us things to work on as well.

“We get a bit more time and clarity on what we want to do and we’ve got a big couple of weeks coming up so it is making sure we are concentrating on our own game and we’re ready for those games.”

Pontypool return to action with an away trip to TATA Steel RFC under the lights on Friday 17th March.

 

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