Pontypool had to come from behind to claim a third win of the season against Bargoed in the WRU Admiral National Championship.
The Bulls had taken a sizeable lead in both of the previous meetings in this campaign and it was no different on Saturday.
Tries from Wade Langley and Dai Evans but the hosts in a commanding position, however, a Deon Smith score kept Pooler within touching distance at half time.
Bargoed continued to pile on the pressure after the break but the Pontypool defence held firm before Ashley Sweet touched down.
Replacement Sam Scarfe came off the bench to thunder Pooler ahead before Dai Langdon set up Joel Mahoney for the bonus-point clinching try to wrap up a sensational comeback.
“They are a good outfit and we had to work hard for it,” explained Langdon, who started at full back but ended the game at centre.
“We didn’t start so well and they had a very good start.
“But to come out in the second half and score a few unanswered points was good for us.
“We made it hard but we got the win.
“We were well aware that they always come out firing, they always have a big 20 minutes against us and it puts us under pressure but if nothing else it probably galvanises us and brings us together and like you’ve seen in the second half we came out and played well and scored some good tries.
“There was a bit of a wind that we were playing against in the first half and we knew it would probably be better for us in the second half to chase a couple of points.
“Obviously we want to keep it to a minimum as much as we can but you probably expect, with the wind the way it was, to be a little bit behind.
“We came out in the second half and used the conditions to our advantage.
“We want to be hitting those levels from the off but it’s nice that we are getting wins and we’re able to pull it back when we need to but it would be better if we started like that and maintained it for 80 minutes.”
Langdon was replaced on 46 minutes by Geraint Walsh but returned to the action on the hour mark, with Smith picking up a knock, and played a vital role in Mahoney’s try.
“I started at full back but it was nice to get my hands on the ball a bit more towards the end going to centre,” he said.
“Regardless of where you play it’s nice to play and we’re chuffed to get the win.
“It’s difficult coming up here anyway so to get the bonus-point win is even better.
“You can rely on Joel outside of you to run those good lines and it’s easy enough to just give him the ball and you know he’ll make something work.
“It just seemed to open up, I don’t know why it happened the way it did but you know Joel is going to run that good line and it was nice to put him through and seal the deal.”
