PONTYPOOL 23 NARBERTH 22

PONTYPOOL RFC survived a late scare to hold off Narberth and claim their fifth win in their last six Swalec Championship games, writes Will Bain.

They did it the hard way, mind.

With the visitors trailing by just a single point heading into the last minute, Pooler were forced to defend manfully for close to nine more minutes as Narberth somehow kept the ball alive.

While they never gained the field position in those final minutes that would have allowed them to strike, head coach Mike Hook joked he would be unlikely to secure medical insurance such is the state of his heart after another nailbiting finish, with the agony prolonged by one of his own players.

At Glamorgan Wanderers a fortnight ago it was a decision to kick to touch rather than take a shot at goal in the final minutes that almost cost them the game and here, having secured the ball at a ruck, substitute scrum-half Tom Aviss inexplicably passed the ball straight into touch, giving away a penalty and prolonging the wait for the final whistle.

In all honesty, it shouldn’t have been this tight.

As excellent as Pooler were defensively, an almost incalculable improvement on even a month ago, Hook accepted that some missed chances in the first half had cost them both a bonus point and a more relaxing afternoon.

Tries from outside-half Sam Mills and second-row Jordan Williams, the first off the back of a lovely interchange between Mills and centre Ashley Norton, as well as a penalty and a conversion from full-back Clayton Gullis had Pontypool 15-7 up at the break.

No.8 Jim Kaumaitotay touched down at the back of a scrum that was driven over and wing James Russell kicked the conversion for the visitors.

The game lurched back and forth in the second, Pooler stretching their lead through a Gullis penalty, before a driven line-out saw Lawrence Reynolds score for Narberth.

Outside-half James Steph-enson’s conversion closed that gap to three points, but almost immediately Ponty-pool re-established their eight-point advantage when skipper Luke Dyckhoff smashed over in the corner.

A penalty try with three minutes to go after the Pontypool scrum crumbled made it 23-22 and the late drama that followed was only punctuated by a nasty injury to Pooler openside Tom Organ whose season is now over after dislocating his shoulder.

Elsewhere, Ebbw Vale’s wheel of fortune can turn full circle tomorrow night, when they will bid to clinch the inaugural SWALEC Champ-ionship title by defeating visiting Glamorgan Wanderers at Eugene Cross Park, writes Terry Daley.

The Steelmen opened their 2012-2013 campaign in the capital against the Wanderers on September 1 last year, when they powered to a highly-impressive 76-13 success.

Now, nearly eight months later, Vale require just one point from the return clash to lift silverware for the third consecutive season following on from two SWALEC League Division One East triumphs.

Ebbw Vale’s latest win, their 21st in 22 outings, came at Llanharan, who were no match for them in losing 66-10 – the visitors storming over for 10 tries.

It took their try count for the campaign to 132, their overall match-point tally to 104, their bonus-point count to 20 and they now require only 17 more points from four remaining games to reach the 1,000-point mark in what has been a quite remarkable campaign.

On paper, the Eugene Cross Park match-up with the Wanderers appears to be a formality for Ebbw Vale – but head coach Jason Strange insists it’s the performance rather than the outcome which is what he and his behind-the-scenes team strive for.

“If we play well then we will be extremely happy and if that display produces the required point we need for the title, then so be it,” explained Strange.

“We will prepare for this game in exactly the same way as we have done for the other 20-odd league and cup matches we gave played this season.

“We will go out determined to re-produce the kind of good style of play we like to achieve, although we will be aware that the visitors will not come here to lie down.

“The players have been fantastic all season and are determined to maintain the very high standards they set for themselves in these final our matches – we all want to end the season in style.”

Crossing for tries for Ebbw Vale, who led 26-0 at the break, were left winger Dan Ajuwa (3), lock forward Damian Hudd (2), right winger Wes Cuncliffe, full back Charlie Simpson, outside half Josh Lewis, scrum half Chris Thomas and flanker Spencer Gibson – with Lewis landing eight conversions for a 21-point match haul.

Elsewhere, Newbridge remain sixth after a 31-31 home draw against the students of Cardiff Metropolitan University, while Blackwood slipped a place to 10th after losing 38-17 at Bridgend Athletic.

Newbridge trailed 19-10 at the interval but stormed back to earn a share of the spoils with wingers John Morris (2) and Andrew Bevan plus back-row man Dean Gibbs crossing for five pointers.

Stand-off Neil Burnett kicked over a penalty and four conversions as his side managed to pass through the 500-point barrier this season Blackwood never recovered from being 20-12 down at the start of the second period in slipping to an 11th reverse in 21 league fixtures.

Scoring tries for them were winger Rhodri Usher, flanker Rhys Watkins and full back Nathan Gittens with outside half Paul Emmanuelli slotting over one conversion.

  • Mid-week fixtures Tomorrow: Ebbw Vale v Glamorgan Wanderers (7.30pm) Wednesday: Bridgend Athletic v Tata Steel (6.30pm); Blackwood v CardiffM etropolitan University (7.15pm); Newbridge v Llanharan (7.15pm).