Coach furious at sending off (From Free Press Series)

Coach furious at sending off

POOLER coach Steve Jones was far from happy with referee Matthew Apling following his side's narrow 23-16 defeat to Bridgend on Saturday.

Pontypool were reduced to 14 men, seven minutes before half-time, when second-row Darryl Cox was sent off for allegedly stamping on an opponent.

It was a decision that infuriated Jones, and ultimately cost his brave side a much-needed win.

He said: "I can't knock my boys for the defeat because their effort and commitment were superb. We had 14 men for most of the game and I thought the sending off was absolutely ridiculous.

"I'm not sure why my man got sent off, the referee just said foul play. It definitely wasn't a sending off, it wasn't a dirty game and was an important game for both teams. For what we've put into the game, to lose it, I'm very disappointed. I'm not having a go at this ref really but we need consistency in the decisions and I don't think we had it on Saturday."

Bridgend started the stronger and deserved their 8-3 half-time lead, which came courtesy of an early Andrew Joy try and an even earlier penalty from full back Gareth David.

All Pooler could manage was a sixth-minute Sam Mills penalty. And then, just before half-time, Cox was sent off for an alleged stamp.

Pontypool came out of the break with all guns blazing and within seven minutes they were in the lead after Neil Giles had finished off Neil Lewis' thrilling break. Sam Mills added the extras, and a few minutes later he sent over a penalty to give the visitors a healthy 8-10 lead.

They held that lead until 18 minutes to go, when second-half replacement Nicky Griffiths broke through from close range to score.

David converted and several minutes later he made it 18-13 with his second penalty.

But Pooler refused to lie down and came back into the game with a Sam Mills penalty for 18-15 to set up a grandstand finish.

However, despite intense pressure Pooler just couldn't break through. It was Bridgend who had the final word with a try in injury time from scrum-half Griffiths.