The victory gave Pooler their sixth successive win and they are now the only unbeaten team in the division, although it was a hard fought victory. The visitors had to come back from being 10 points down in the first half and the scores were tied 19-19 just before the hour mark.
Then came the turning point in the game as home No 8 Matthew Llewellyn was sent to the sin-bin for using his hands in a ruck on his own 22. That gave former Wales outside half Matthew Jones the chance to hoist his side into the lead at 22-19 with a penalty and Llewellyn saw Pooler pile on 11 points while he was on the sideline.
Two Liam Popham penalties and conversion of Ryan Hall’s try, which came after Josh Hurley had been yellow carded for an aerial collision, allowed Tata to open up their early lead. But two Jones penalties and conversion of young centre Brandon Kent’s try, created by a long pass from veteran Tongan international Sione Tu’ipulotu, on the stroke of half-time closed the game by the break.
Two more Jones penalties edged the visitors ahead at the start of the second half in what was developing into a titanic tussle between the top two teams in the Championship. Then Pooler lost a second player to a yellow card, this time prop Aaron Coundley, and two penalties from Popham’s boot made it 19-19.
With the game hanging in the balance it was Llewellyn’s yellow card that helped to tip the balance in favour of the visitors. Jones kicked two more penalties to take his match tally to 20 points and skipper and hooker Ben Parry scored a second try to put clear daylight between the two teams at the top of the Championship.
Narberth just managed to edge Skewen in the battle of the third and fourth placed teams. Their 31-24 away win also allowed the Otters to draw level with Tata Steel on 23 points.
Having forged a 20-3 lead just before the interval, thanks to a Jonathan Rogers drop goal, two tries from centre Joe Hutchings and seen points from the boot of wing Nick Gale, Narberth looked well set for a bonus point. But Skewen hit back so strongly they were only seven points adrift at the break and then worked their way into a 24-20 lead.
Scrum half Anthony Buseli led the charge with a try which he also converted and then he added the extras to second half tries from Jamie Ball and Ed Price. Gale cut the gap to a single point with a penalty before hauling his side over the line with a corner try and fourth penalty for a match haul of 21 points.
At the other end of the table, newly promoted Glamorgan Wanderers remain firmly anchored to the bottom after they went down 31-22 at Beddau. The Wanderers trailed 28-8 at the interval and threatened to upset their hosts with a burst of three unconverted tries in the second half to ensure a try bonus point.
But Beddau had their bonus point in the bag by the break thanks to tries from skipper Lloyd Evans, Kristian Parker, Cody Baker and Callum Wheeler. Hywel Chatham converted all four and also added a second half penalty.
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Cardiff Met lost their third straight game as the pressures of playing on so many fronts caught up with them. They beat Northumbria University 58-16 in the new BUCS Super League on Wednesday and played a Freshers team at Newbridge and, despite taking the lead, were beaten 34-21.
Newbridge scored five tries, all of which came from their back division. Scrum half Garyn Lucas and centre Hadyn Palmer each scored twice and full back Srdan Majkic also got in on the act, while outside half Simon Veall converted three and added a penalty.
Glynneath cruised to a 36-10 win over Newcastle Emlyn with tries from Corey Jenkins, Stuart Leach, Jordan Griffiths, Dai Jones and Ben Jones, while Bedlinog beat Dunvant, 40-29 in a high-scoring encounter.
Bedlinog raced into a 40-10 lead after 64 minutes, but the home side hit back to claim a try bonus point with an 80th wing try from wing Adam Williams-Parry that outside half James Davies converted. The visitors recovered from conceding an early try to completely dominate the game for long periods and led 19-7 at the break thanks to tries from Iain Smerdon, Matthew Rees and a penalty try.
Three more tries flowed in the second half as the score mounted in favour of the Foxes. Centre Ben Grzesica crossed for a try that Smerdon improved and the outside half also converted further tries from wing Owain Rees and No 8 Andrew Murphy.
But credit goes to Dunvant for ending the game on a high with three tries, and 19 points, without reply in the final quarter to at least get something out of the game.
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