PONTYPOOL suffered late anguish in their WRU National Cup quarter-final against Carmarthen Quins.

Pooler looked set to give absent head coach Leighton Jones, who was admitted to hospital on Tuesday afternoon, a lift when they led 17-16 in the closing stages.

However, they were denied another Premiership scalp when the Quins struck late with Jake Newman put over by a pinpoint cross-kick.

Pontypool led 17-6 at half-time thanks to tries by wing Lloyd Lewis, centre Kieran Meek and lock Rhys Clarke but the Quins came on strong in the second half, and made the hosts pay for some late misses from the kicking tee in tricky conditions.

Pooler will now concentrate on earning the right to play Quins in the league next season with a key home game against Bedwas on Friday.

Bargoed narrowed their lead to six points with a comprehensive win at Tata Steel while in-form Cross Keys did their battle against the drop the power of good with an impressive success at Glamorgan Wanderers.