Rock bottom - Pooler hammered in first half (From Free Press Series)

Rock bottom - Pooler hammered in first half

EBBW Vale jumped off the bottom of the table with this win and deposited Pontypool in their place, yet there is hope for both these great old clubs as both are refusing to lie down.

They each face huge challenges in the last four weeks of the season that begins with Vale taking on fellow strugglers Maesteg at Eugene Cross Park on Wednesday in a game of massive proportions.

Even though they conceded six tries Pooler are far from dead and the side kept their heads up despite having Gavin Donaldson red-carded for interference, his second yellow card offence.

It was a very good game and, surprisingly, nowhere near the low-scoring match that could have been expected.

There was fighting, but only trivial compared to that of yesteryear and only to be expected giving the circumstances and pressure that came with the clash.

"Ebbw Vale's good first-half beat us," said Pontypool coach David Gray. "We should have had a try early on but lost the ball with an overlap and we were too far behind at the interval."

Ebbw Vale coach Alex Codling paid tribute to his opponents, saying: "We knew Pontypool would come out hard and they have good spirit, but it was a massive game for us and we must do it again on Wednesday."

For Vale, Simon Hunt was magnificent, Andrew Bevan versatile, Bryan Shelbourne deadly with punting and place-kicking, Jonathan Hawker cool and in the pack Neil Edwards was superb with little Matthew Williams outstanding.

Pontypool had a fine youngster in Michael Poole, Sam Nills played well at fly half and Donaldson and skipper Gavin Lucas stood out in the pack. After a Shelbourne penalty, number eight Craig Cleaver surged over for a converted try and Shelbourne added another penalty.

Mills replied with a corner try from a Donaldson pass, but Edwards plunged in at the corner and Shelbourne magnificently converted. Then, Hunt intercepted a Mills pass in his own half to race clear with Shelbourbe converting before a Mills penalty was followed by a good Bevan try, again converted.

After the break, penalties were exchanged before Donaldson crossed and Mills kicked a fine conversion, but the killer blow was a Matthew Griffiths interception.

Then replacement Andrew Whiteman ended interpassing by Hunt and Bevan and Shelbourne kept on adding the extras, finishing with a penalty after Mills had crossed and converted for Pontypool.

PONTYPOOL - D Hitchcock; L Woodard, A Sliczny, M Poole (D Fox 78), N Daniels; S Mills, O Jones (A Quick 78); J Viner (N Giles 62), L Meades (J Jeunne 40), G McCarthy (N Blake 62), D Rosser, D Cox, M Amos, G Lucas (capt), G Donaldson. Yellow Cards - G Donaldson (26-36), D Cox (38-48). Red Card - G Donaldson (62). Tries - S Mills 2, G Donaldson. Cons - S Mills 2. Pens - S Mills 2. Ref - Phil Fear (Llanharan).