Pontypool director of rugby Leighton Jones is used to heaping praise on his players, who have now gone 13 game sunbeaten in the Admiral Championship, but after completing an Admiral Championship double over title rivals Neath he put the fans first.
Another epic encounter ended with Pontypool becoming the first team to win at The Gnoll this season as they came from behind to triumph 28-23 to extend their lead at the top of the table to 10 points.
“There were buses from all over Pontypool and it was probably a ratio of 3:1 for our support. They were vocal, they made themselves heard and I really don’t think the supporters understand the part they play in this club,” said Jones.
“Not just for the team on the field but for the club as a whole. We talk about the players having a togetherness, but the supporters reinforce that.
“They are a great crowd. They are great to hear when they are cheering the boys off and then at the end of the game with the boys going over to show their appreciation, it is just one club – for me they are the best set of supporters in the league and, arguably, in Welsh rugby.”
Unbeaten Pooler got off to a great start and went into a six-point lead thanks to two Matthew Jarvis penalties in the opening seven minutes. It was Neath who looked the more nervous of the two teams in this titanic contest, although they soon got to grips with the occasion.
Steff Williams calmed the nerves with a penalty and then back row man Dai Griggs got his hands on the ball at the back of a driving line-out maul in the 23rd minute to bag the first try of the game. Williams added the extras and Neath were ahead 10-6.
By the break that slender lead had been transformed by Pooler into a 10 point interval lead for them. A break by Kyan Best and a great offload to Peter Lloyd allowed the front rower to crash over for a try that Jarvis improved.
Then came some mighty action on the home line as the half came to an end and Ben Breakspear awarded the visitors a penalty try. Not only that, he showed a yellow card to former Wales international Aled Brew.
That meant the Welsh All Blacks started the second half with 14 men, although Brew was soon joined in the sin-bin by try scorer Lloyd at the start of the second half.
No sooner had Brew returned to the field than he got on the scoresheet on the side of a driving maul and Rhys Harris’ conversion cut the gap to three points with 30 minutes left to play.
Pooler skipper Scott Matthews was introduced into the fray soon after the Brew try and he made an immediate impact. Having been on the field for less than a minute he popped up in the right place and the right time to force the ball over the line after a tap-penalty from Dai Jones.
Jarvis missed with his conversion and the tension rose from there on. Neath kicked a penalty via the boot of Harris with two minutes to go to make it 25-20 to set up a frantic finish. Jarvis kept his cool to add three more points before Harris got another one back to leave it 28-23 in the end.
Cardiff Met ran up a half-century of points at home in their 50-19 triumph over Glamorgan Wanderers to stay in fourth, while Cross Keys were 20-0 winners over Trebanos. Will Rees scored the opening try for Keys on his debut as he followed in the footsteps of his father, former Wales B cap Dai Rees, in plaaying for the club.
