ASDA League Division One Round up
Once powerful Pooler finished bottom of the Principality Premiership last term and lost 21 players in a turbulent off season.
And coach Hill admits there is plenty of work to do if his side are to bounce back to the Principality Premiership next season.
“Lots of people think we should just march straight back up in to the Premiership, but the harsh reality is that this is a completely new team and everyone in this league is going to want to take our scalp.
“We’ve got a long way to go this season, on and off the field, but it’s great to start with a win.
“We were fantastic at the set-pieces and dominated most of the game, yet we were still trailing 9-8 with two minutes to go. It was an important win for the club and even more vital for this new group of players.
It wasn’t exactly a happy start to the new season at Beddau in ASDA League One where the referee issued four yellow and two red cards in the home side’s 14-0 win over Abercynon.
Two replacement props received their marching orders at the end of the game as the second half remained scoreless following Beddau’s two converted tries in the opening period.
Dan Meredith and Steve Cole crossed for the home tries and Nathan Walters hit the mark with both conversions to secure the points.
New Welsh Clubs XV international Jamie Howells gave last season’s Division 2 East champions Bargoed the perfect start to their League One campaign as he converted all three of his side’s tries and added a penalty for good measure in a 24-13 win at Blackwood.
The home side were still in contention at the break, trailing 3-7, but could muster only three Jeremy Lloyd penalties and a wing try from Sean Emery. Lewis Protheroe, Darren Humphries and Nicky Coughlin crashed over for the Bargoed tries.
Another of the newly promoted teams, Newport Saracens, also got off to a winning start on the road as they ran in two tries in an impressive 12-9 triumph at Caerphilly. Dean Watkins kicked all the home side’s points, while Robin Robertson and Chris Arnold crossed for Sarries tries.
Gregg Jones picked up 15 points as Newbridge kicked-off with a comprehensive 25-3 home win over Fleur de Lys, while a third try from the fleet footed students of UWIC in the last minute turned a 17-17 scoreline into a 24-17 home win over Llanharan.
In ASDA League One West, Loughor got off to a flying start with a 29-13 home win over Waunarlwydd that included a brace of tries from wing Rory Saunders and 19 points from the boot of Peter Smriglia. Merthyr had two penalty tries awarded for collapsed scrums in their 19-3 win at Builth Wells and prop John Difford also crossed.
Narberth were impressive 22-11 winners at Llangennech, where wings Mark Davies (two) and Nick Jones got their tries, but there was no joy for newly promoted Dunvant as they were beaten 30-16 at Bridgend Athletic.
