Drovers No 8 Nathan Hart bagged a first half brace, while hooker Taylor Davies marked his 50th appearance with a try – all converted by full-back Jack Maynard – as the home side led 21-10 at half time.
Maynard kicked a second half penalty, as well as converting further Llandovery tries from replacements Ilan Phillips and Llien Morgan.
For Pooler outside centre Joel Mahoney, left wing Matthew Powell, back rower Scott Matthews and Dragons’ Tongan international Solomone Funaki scored their tries to bag a bonus point. Outside half Kieran Meek added the extras to two of them while also sending over a penalty.
The five-point victory took Evans’ men up from third to first in the table. The Drovers are now three points above Ebbw Vale and four above Cardiff, albeit having now played a game more with those sides who were not in action.
“Really pleased with the performance and the result,” said Drovers head coach Evans – who also praised the Gwent side for their display.
“Pontypool were strong with some players from the Dragons that strengthened them as well so to get a bonus-point win was really pleasing.
“We would have snapped your hand off for five points before the start of the game; we’re maybe a bit disappointed in the end that we didn’t finish off and get all six – but they were a tough team and were always a threat.
“We didn’t have the start to the season we wanted – losing three of our first four games – but the way we’ve reacted is really pleasing and we’ve put a run together, nine games unbeaten, that gives us confidence going into the back end of the season.”
This fixture was the only SRC match played at the weekend and was the rearrangement of the Round 10 clash that was originally postponed back on 7 December due to bad weather.
Llandovery went ahead with 15 minutes played with Hart grabbing their first of three converted first half tries. Pooler hit back to take the lead; first Meek split the posts with a penalty and then improved Mahoney’s try to put them 10-7 up.
The Drovers re-took the lead on the half-hour with Hart grabbing his second before Davies marked his milestone with a try before the break.
Powell then went over unconverted for the visitors five minutes after the re-start but a Phillips try with a conversion and a penalty from Maynard made it 31-15.
Matthews responded with a third Pooler try, converted by Meek, on 72 minutes to give them hope, but two minutes later the home side were over again through Morgan, again converted by Maynard to make it 38-22 – and on course for another six-point triumph.
The Drovers would be denied the maximum though after Funaki scored a fourth Pooler try off the bench to ensure they did not leave empty handed.
Attention now turns to the new SRC Cup competition which starts on Saturday. The 10 clubs are split into two pools and, after playing a pair of home and away games each, the two table-toppers will clash in the final.
Llandovery entertain Cardiff in the first round of fixtures with Pontypool at home against Swansea.
Drovers head coach Evans added: “We’re delighted to start at home. It’s a fresh challenge and something different away from the league to focus on and hopefully we can transfer the momentum we’ve got in the league to the cup.”
