PONTYPOOL failed to cause a Swalec Cup upset after going down to a 46-10 defeat to Bedwas at Bridge Field.

Bedwas safely avoided the banana skin to earn a second round tie against Cardiff Met thanks to tries by hooker Alun Rees, back row Deri Mattravers, centre Aaron Pinches, wing Rory Budina (2), scrum-half Rhys Crane and flanker James Sawyer.

Steve Law’s men are a match for anybody in the Principality Premiership on their day so Bedwas could well be dark horses for the trophy, although they can ill afford to be as loose as they were on occasions on their way to a convincing Gwent derby win.

Pooler, meanwhile, have to be content with concentrating on the league and if they reproduce their spirited display then they could well finish the season strongly to finish third in the Swalec Championship.

They showed their potential in periods of pressure but all too often failed to convert it to points against their well-drilled hosts, having to settle for a second-half cracker by wing Nathan Brooks.

It was a case of the new being unavailable for Pooler with the old coming in; prop Keagan Bale’s Wales Under-20s call-up for Saturday’s Six Nations opener against England forcing them to name 36-year-old coach Leighton Jones as an unused replacement.

The visitors had the chance to strike first only for fly-half Tom Hancock to hit the sour spot of the ball, his effort from the 22 bobbling its way past the posts after failing to get above head height.

Bedwas made the most of their escape to go 5-0 in front in the sixth minute when hooker Rees found his target and then was at the bottom of a driving lineout.

However, it wasn’t to be a walk in the park for the hosts, who were kept pinned inside their own half by Pooler for the next quarter of an hour.

But Bedwas looked pretty comfortable in defence and then were agonisingly close to crossing for their second when Budina failed to grasp fellow winger Lewis Hudd’s offload with the line at his mercy.

The Premiership side were looking the sharper but were guilty of a high error count and, after failing to crack Pooler after resorting to the driving lineout tactic that had worked wonders in the opening stage, settled for a Richard Powell penalty to make it 8-0 after 34 minutes.

Pooler deservedly got on the scoreboard through the left boot of Hancock before the break only for Mattravers, who at 39 has a few years on Leighton Jones, to have the final say of the half by powering over by the posts after a period of sustained pressure for a 15-3 lead.

And Bedwas killed the tie off in the opening stages of the second half when centre Pinches, who carried impressively throughout, charged over the whitewash.

However, Pooler didn’t allow their heads to drop in face of the 22-3 scoreline and wing Brooks scored the try of the evening with half an hour left when he raced over from inside his own half, outpacing the seriously rapid Budina.

Hancock impressively converted to make it 22-10 but just seconds later the battle of the wingers went the way of Bedwas, Budina finishing smartly in the corner after Pooler had failed to gather the restart.

And with the game getting far too loose Budina intercepted for his second, Crane jinked over and Sawyer crossed for a comprehensive win.

Bedwas scorers: tries – A Rees, D Mattravers, A Pinches, R Budina (2), L Crane, J Sawyer; conversions – R Powell (4), J Maynard; penalty – R Powell

Pontypool scorers: try – N Brooks; conversion – T Hancock ; penalty – T Hancock

Argus star man: Aaron Pinches