POOLER DREAMING OF CUP HONOURS
PONTYPOOL recorded an outstanding WRU National Cup victory, seeing off Principality Premiership side Carmarthen Quins to reach the quarter-finals.
Carmarthen, the 2016 runners up, will no longer be thinking about a Principality Stadium date this year, but for Championship leaders Pontypool, cup winners in 1983 after that famous victory over Swansea, the dream is very much alive.
And on this form, they will fear no-one, especially if they get another home draw.
All the early pressure was made by the home side, with Quins pushed back into their own half for the first 15 minutes.
Pontypool missed an early chance to get points on the board, Matthew Jones’ third minute penalty, from a kickable position, sailing wide.
Five minutes later, they were denied an opening try by the TMO after Martin Luckwell, whilst under pressure, let the ball slip from his grasp as he dived for the try-line.
Jones’ second penalty kick finally broke the deadlock, with Pontypool taking a 3-0 lead on 13 minutes.
Quins, after a period of pressure on the Pontypool backline, levelled things thanks to a Steffan Marshall kick in front of the sticks.
Pontypool regained the lead on the half hour when Luckwell cheekily took the ball out of a ruck and placed it over the line. Jones converted.
Carmarthen quickly got a try back. As soon as they regained the ball, they made their way upfield and Marshall finished off a nice move but sliced the conversion wide.
However Quins went into time with a 17-8 advantage after being awarded a late penalty try.
The Pontypool ground staff are to be congratulated for getting the game on, with such inclement weather all week.
But one half of rugby had already taken its toll on the muddy surface and both sides found it tough to get things going again in the second half, the mercurial boot of Luckwell notwithstanding as he created a couple of early Pontypool try opportunities.
It was a game that was no longer going to be won by running rugby and it was Pooler who utilised their kicking game at the right opportunities to take the tie.
Jones extended Pontypool’s lead after kicking a 57th minute penalty, repeating his actions with 10 minutes to go to build the score up to 23-8.
After that, Pontypool put up a solid defence but nothing overly substantial was thrown at them as the Championship side earned their historic cup win.