04 Pontypridd V Pontypool - 17th February 2010 Video

Pontypridd 49 Pontypool 5 11:30am Thursday 18th February 2010 By Chris Kirwan » IF the gauntlet was thrown down to Pontypool by Ebbw Vale ahead of last nights Premiership encounter then it is still lying on the Sardis Road turf. Bottom club Pooler, who saw nearest rivals Ebbw increase their lead with victory at the weekend, went down to a thumping 49-5 loss to a Pontypridd side that didnt even have to get out of second gear. Rarely do sides leave Sardis Road with anything other than bruises, but it is the manner of defeat that will be galling for the coaching staff. Pontypools Premiership status is more likely to be salvaged by performing well on their own turf. However, they cannot afford to write off any games and they failed to punish injury-hit Ponty in an uncharacteristically sloppy display. There were some determined defensive displays, with flanker Cae Trayhern and number eight Geraint Morris grafting away, but it was hard against a steady stream of Ponty possession. It was hard to tell what threat Pooler carried behind the scrum as they hardly got the chance. Yet it was the visitors who made the better start and it took until there was five minutes on the clock for the home side to get their mitts on the ball. But Ponty woke up and were first on the scoresheet when centre Gavin Dacey took the ball on the 22 and won the foot race to his own grubber kick. Outside half Dean Gunter was wide with the conversion but was able to boot a pair of penalties. Their clever ...