PONTYPOOL booked a place in the second round of the Specsavers National Cup with a resounding four-try victory over Premiership side Swansea, writes Paul Hopkins.

It was the visitors who took an early lead through a James Davies penalty, but the home side enjoyed the brighter start and Adam Stratton cleverly stole a high ball from the restart with Shaun O’Rourke giving away a penalty. Richard Powell hit the post with his effort at goal though.

Pooler were soon back in possession and offside in the Swansea defence saw Powell chip to the corner. Curtis Gregory collected clean lineout ball and, although the Swansea pack initially repelled the drive, the impressive Scott Matthews pealed off a maul to score under the posts. Powell converted.

Swansea took the lead though when Chris Morgans fed Tom Northy, who charged through to set up an attacking platform. A long pass out wide saw Nathan Trowbridge crash over to score in the corner. James Davies converted.

A powerful scrum by the Pooler front eight earned a penalty moments into the second half. Powell chose to kick at goal and he successfully tied the score at ten apiece.

The visitors bagged a second try out of nothing when Duane Eager charged down a clearance kick and drew in a tackler to send Trowbridge over for his second touch down of the afternoon. James Davies missed the conversion.

The home side responded with an unstoppable 20 metre maul by the forwards, which resulted in a try for captain Matthews. Powell missed the conversion.

Powell turned down a kickable penalty, opting to chip to the corner instead. The decision looked to have paid off but the visitors managed to prevent the ball from being grounded. A Pontypool mistake at the scrum five ended the move though.

Pooler retook the lead when Pat Lewis made a probing run out wide with Kieran Meek in support. Aaron Quick picked up possession from the ruck and held off a Harry Davies tackle to score. Powell converted.

And they sealed victory with a fourth try when Kieran Meek powered upfield and Martin Luckwell was on hand to score with his first touch since coming on as a replacement.

Pontypool: G Walsh, J Thomas (L Ball 30-40), P Lewis, A Nove (K Meek 51), M Jones, R Powell (C Gullis 79), A Quick (M Luckwell 69), S Cochrane (A Coudley 47), D Hughes (L Ball 79), C Price (S Evans 74), C Gregory (B Sparks 47), R Clarke, S Matthews, A Stratton (R Nash 76), I Jones

Scorers: Tries: S Matthews (2), A Quick, M Luckwell. Cons: R Powell (3). Pens: R Powell.

Swansea: M Nagy, R Griffiths, G Rees, J Evans (K Charles 71), N Trowbridge, J Davies (S Williams 71), C Morgans (T Lucas 74), T Northy (T Sloane 54), O Thomas (S Howard 71), G Cunniffe (A Dew 58), S O’Rourke, O Morgan (H Sutton 54), H Davies, M Moore (S Langford 40), D Eager.

Scorers: Tries: N Trowbridge (2). Cons: J Davies. Pens: J Davies.

Star Man: Scott Matthews (Pontypool)