PONTYPOOL chief executive Ben Jeffreys says the club will take their time to make sure their successor to Alun Carter is the right fit, writes Chris Kirwan.

Pooler parted company with the former Wales and Worcester analyst last week and coaches Leighton Jones and Stuart Lawrence and team manager Shaun Rees have taken over the reins.

They oversaw a 48-6 Swalec Championship victory against Tondu at Pontypool Park last weekend and will be in charge at Narberth tomorrow afternoon.

It is likely that Pooler will appoint a head coach rather than another director of rugby but Jeffreys believes the strength of the current set-up means that there is no rush.

“We are prepared to wait until the end of the season if needs be to find the right candidate,” he said.

“Leighton and Stuart are two great coaches who have done fantastically well recently and I am sure that they will maintain our strong team spirit.

“The season hasn’t turned out as we had hoped but the bottom hasn’t fallen out of the club and we are clear about where we want to go.

“Of course we are disappointed we haven’t performed better but we have got a good basis to prepare for having a better crack at next season.

“We are looking for a level four coach to build on the good work done by Alun and our coaching group and lead us on what will hopefully be a Championship-winning season.

“There is a group of people here that care only for moving the club forward, our objective is to get back to the Premiership and I hope people stay with us on the journey.”

Pooler will attempt to back up last week’s comprehensive win when they make the trip west to face Narberth. It was a 34-3 home win when the sides met in Gwent in September.

Newbridge have really hit their straps over the past few months and will attempt to continue their climb up the table when they take on Cardiff Met.

‘Bridge thumped Glynneath 30-0 at the Welfare Ground last weekend, their third success in four games.

They are on the up while beleaguered Blackwood are unfortunately on the slide after a run of eight successive defeats.

The Glan-yr-Afon Park outfit host Tata Steel tomorrow afternoon and will be looking to avenge a 38-30 defeat in a thriller last September.

Other fixtures: Glynneath v Merthyr, Llanharan v Bargoed, Swansea v Bridgend Athletic, Tondu v RGC 1404