“The toughest thing for us today was the opposition. Fair play to Ystrad Rhondda, they made it really tough for us, we didn’t make it easy for ourselves.
“But you know, it’s a cup final and they made us work really hard for it, we’re just glad to get over the line. Our pack were unbelievable. To be honest as a back, they’ve carried us through most of the season. When times get tough, we know we can rely on the pack with the driving mauls and scrums. Fair play to them, they are a beast of a pack.”
Pontypool head coach Leighton Jones was also vocal of Ystrad Rhondda and his team’s supporters: “They’re a quality team, they are well coached, they pushed us all the way. I think the strength of the bench coming on made the difference but they made it tough for us.
“We’ve been building now for 10 years, we were rock bottom, you’ve only got to look at the stands to see how many supporters are here. The club means a lot to the town and we had fantastic support.
“We’ve had some very special cup runs but we’ve always just missed out on this place. As soon as we got here, it was a big focus around the town, everyone wanting to go to the final and win it. They’ve certainly showed up today in numbers, so a massive thanks to the supporters.”
Pontypool’s focus will switch back to the league as they currently sit joint top alongside Neath RFC in the WRU Championship with Jones saying: “We’ve got eight games left. We’ve got a game on Wednesday night and I’m sure the boys will go light on the beers tonight!”
