Nove was on hand to finish as Pooler sent the ball quickly from right to left following a scrum to secure the spoils and continue an excellent start to the season for Leighton Jones’ side. It also settled what had been a closely-fought battle.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a bit before that when we got into a good lead,” explained head coach Leighton Jones
“We made some stupid errors and Merthyr are a team that will punish you. One thing the boys will always do is dig in for each other and go for the 80 minutes,” said Pontypool director of rugby, Jones.
“In those last minutes on the Merthyr line there was no thought process of going for the draw. They are brave boys and that just showed how much effort and commitment they were putting in.
“They were on top in the scrum towards the end and we backed ourselves in the scrum to go for the pushover or gain the advantage of a penalty and pull the trigger and play. It worked and the boys deserved the result.”
Hooker Liam Wiggins’ third minute try, which Josh Lewis improved, had given Merthyr the perfect start but Pooler hit back; first through a fine bit of individual play from centre Joel Mahoney and then a try from wing Ewan Rosser to lead 17-10 at the turnaround, with Matthew Jarvis kicking the extras.
Lewis kicked his second penalty of the match after the re-start and then converted Dan Wall’s try to nudge the Ironmen ahead – before Pooler’s late heroics.
RGC secured their first victory of the season after holding off a second half comeback from Swansea to win 34-29 at Stadiwm CSM. The Gogs also did so with 14 men for almost an hour after wing Sam Stoddart was sent off for a dangerous tackle in the first half.
By that point RGC were already 22-8 to the good thanks to a try double from Dafydd Williams and one for Harri Hughes with both scores converted by Sam Earl-Jones who also split from the posts from halfway. Jordan Liney then made sure of the bonus point, again improved by Earl-Jones before Huw Taylor went over from close range.
They led 34-15 at the interval after Owen Thomas replied for the Whites – who despite defeat would ultimately take home two bonus points thanks to Matthew Jenkins’ brace. Dan Edwards kicked the rest but the hosts held their nerve.
Elsewhere, hooker Alun Rees helped himself to a hat-trick to steer Cardiff to victory 49-28 over Neath at the Arms Park.
Dewi Cross gave the hosts an early lead before skipper Morgan Allen marked his 100th appearance for the Blue and Blacks with a try. Both were converted by Harri Wilde. Cardiff’s lead was 28-7 at half time thanks to centre Luke Pollock’s try and Rees’ first of the afternoon. Harrison James – on as a replacement for Wilde – improved both.
Two more tries for Rees in the second half along with a penalty try settled it, although Neath would not leave empty handed. Thomas John and Jack Powell’s tries added to that of Llewellyn Hawkes in the first half – all converted by Steff Williams – and a late penalty try earned them a bonus point.
The game also marked the welcome sight of Wales centre Willis Halaholo lining up for Cardiff after a year out of the game following a wretched time with injury.
Meanwhile, Newport bounced back from a couple of recent setbacks as they made it a hat-trick of wins at the Talbot Athletic Ground as they once again got the better of Aberavon in their own backyard.
Outside half Matt O’Brien opened the scoring from the tee on 20 minutes and, in doing so, overtook Paul Turner to become the Black and Ambers’ second all-time highest points scorer.
Joe Westwood’s try ensured Newport just had their noses in front 8-5 at the interval after Luke Davies responded for Aberavon. O’Brien and James Davies traded penalties before centre Jon Morris then scored his 50th try for Newport. A further O’Brien penalty and late tries from replacements Garin Harris and Carwyn Penny completed a 31-8 bonus-point win for Ty Morris’ side.
Pontypridd recorded their first league win at Sardis Road of the season – at the third time of asking – seeing off old adversaries Bridgend 29-13. Hooker Rob Jones crashed over for Pontypridd in the eighth minute to give them the lead.
Josh Phillips converted and then kicked a penalty but Bridgend were giving as good as they got and it was 10-10 when flanker Jordan Collier scored and converted by Luke Price – adding to his earlier penalty.
Full-back Liam Lloyd ‘s try put the hosts 15-10 up at half time. Scrum-half Harvey Nash was also over in the second half before a second Lloyd try secured maximum points for Ponty.
