DIVISION ONE EAST

DOWLAIS ..................... 11 PONTYPOOL UNITED .. 5

Victory at last for Dowlais this week as they tripled their points total with an 11-5 victory against Pontypool United.

Dowlais made it through the first half without conceding a single point and six points courtesy of two penalties kicked by Nathan Pritchard.

In fact, Dowlais kept a very solid defence on their own try line and upfield through the majority of the second half, a try from Ponty at around the 60-minute mark not withstanding.

Also a first for the season, Dowlais conceded no penalty kicks all game, a crippling weakness which ruined their chances down at Abertillery last week.

And last but not least, a powerful maul from a lineout in the Ponty 22 gave Dowlais a try also from Nathan Pritchard, securing Dowlais’ victory.

Although a vast improvement over their four previous attempts this season, their performance was far from perfect.

While Dowlais’ seemingly never-ending penalty problem didn’t give their opponents 12 points like at Abertillery, it still put an uncomfortable amount of pressure on them which easily could have lost them the game and still needs lots of work to iron out.

And that’s not to mention all of the other tries that were botched by Dowlais, from knockons at the worst possible moments to trying to chip the ball feet away from the try line, a bonus point was definitely not out of question for Dowlais.

But even with those imperfections, it’s nice to leave a Dowlais game celebrating again instead of waiting patiently for something to improve. With four more points under their belt, hopefully, it only goes up from here for Dowlais.