ANYONE doubting Pooler's commitment to saving themselves from the drop this season need only look at captain Gavin Lucas' actions on Saturday to see their heart is still in this battle.

Lucas' wife gave birth to a baby girl at 9.45am on Saturday morning and the skipper had at first considered staying at her bedside. Instead he made the short trip to Cardiff Arms Park for a crucial relegation battle that same afternoon but was unable to inspire a much-needed win.

Pontypool's David Gray - the self-proclaimed "the most frustrated coach in the Welsh Premiership" - again had no cause to criticise his stalwarts as they came much closer to turning over Cardiff after a poor start than the 33-20 scoreline suggests.

He said: "We conceded two very soft tries in the first ten minutes and they had their tails up then. We were playing against the strong wind in the first half and at 25-6 down we were looking down a barrel."

Scott Williams was out injured so Gray had to implement a makeshift midfield from the start. But he later brought Mike Poole into the centre, who capped off an excellent game with a try just before half time to add to Sam Mills' two penalties.

Gray added: "We scored again straight after the break when Nathan Daniels kicked ahead and Mills chased it down a full 60 yards. At 25-20 the boys were going at them and what we needed then was a better kicking game to keep the pressure on but we lost key line-outs through over throws which took the pressure off them."

Mills then had to come off after sustaining an injury to his calf and Pooler lost their shape somewhat for a key last 15 minutes. Cardiff kicked themselves into an eight point lead then Dafydd Hewitt intercepted a Craig Jones kick in the dying minutes to go over again.

Gray concluded: "We had them on the rack but when we needed that bit of composure we lacked it."

He is now under no false illusions of the importance of this weekend's trip to Ebbw Vale (kick off on Saturday at 2.30pm). Having lost to one relegation-threatened rival, three points in the Valleys is a must for Gray before four back-to-back home game which will make or break their season.

Pontypool RFC: Smith, Poole, Sliczny, Daniels, Woodard, Mills, O Jones, Viner, Meads, McCarthy, Rosser, Cox, Amos, Donaldson, Lucas.