LOUIE TONKIN couldn’t fault the effort of his Pontypool players after they slipped to defeat at Bargoed Park – which could well have ended their hopes of returning to the Principality Premiership, writes Carl Field.

For the second straight week, Pooler knew victory would take them up, however their hopes are now hanging by a thread after they lost this winner-takes-all Swalec Championship clash.

The win for Bargoed – their 11th on the spin – secured them promotion along with Merthyr and Swansea, while this crushing setback leaves Pooler’s hopes in tatters having now completed their fixtures.

Pooler’s fate is now out of their own hands with RGC 1404, who are seven points behind Tonkin’s side, still with games at Cardiff Met and Glynneath to play.

Head coach Tonkin said: “I’m devastated in one way but also hugely proud of the guys for their efforts.

“This is the toughest place in the league to come, they’ve got a really strong side up here and the boys gave their heart and soul.

“We genuinely believed we could win. We came here confident and very optimistic of doing the job.

“We were in the game and well in the mix until the last penalty. Then it just started to fall away from us from the last six or seven minutes where we started playing into their hands a little bit.

“It’s still not dead and buried yet. It’s out of our hands now so we’ve just got to sit back and wait.

“Even if we do miss out, Pontypool RFC is in really strong hands.”