DAVID Gray must be the most frustrated coach in the Welsh Premier Division after watching his Pontypool side lose another match they should have won on Saturday.

Pontypool's four defeats this season have come in the last minutes against the table-topping winners of every game, Pontypridd, by three points at Carmarthen, two at Llanelli and now one against the other side with a 100% record.

In other words, they could have been at the other end of the table with the Ravens with a little more luck, a little more composure and a little more discipline, instead of struggling near the bottom.

Make no mistake, Bridgend were there for the taking at Pontypool Park, and if they are good enough to lift the title this season then I'm a Dutchman's uncle.

"The first half was the worst we'd played all season - until the second," said club chairman Derrick King.

"If Pontypool can't beat us when we're as bad as that, they never will," said club president and Wales and British Lions legend JPR Williams.

Both men may be right, but their words do no credit to Pontypool, who outplayed Bridgend for long periods but lacked the guile and variety to break down a strong defence and turn their territorial advantage into points.

"In the first half I thought we played some good stuff, but in the second we didn't get our game going at all," said Gray.

"Possession started to dry up a little, and with 20 minutes to go we started panicking and trying to force things when there was only a try in it.

"We have to have belief in what we are doing, belief that the next stage will come and we will score that try - and discipline has got to be better.

"That's what cost us in the second half. We gave away two penalties.

"To be fair to Bridgend their defence was good and their discipline was superb, but we have got to start turn it around."

Against a strong wind in the first half, Pontypool played well, restricting Bridgend to a second-minute Gareth David penalty (cancelled out by Ross Watt's penalty a minute later) and a try by flanker Adam Witney.

Pooler might have scored at least two tries, once when centre Scott Williams hacked on a loose ball and gathered to break into the Bridgend 22, and again when wing Len Woodard entered the line to burst through, but each time they ran out of support.

Wrong options also cost them on occasions, while ruck ball was usually too slow and they were denied by otherwise excellent referee Phil Soroka.

Faced with a three-man Pontypool overlap, Bridgend number eight Dean Fitzgerald deliberately knocked on inside the 22, but Soroka neither gave a penalty try nor delivered a yellow card and Pontypool gained no advantage.

Nevertheless, they looked odds on to win in the second half, but for some reason the game died a death, with both sides making numerous handling errors as play meandered between the Bridgend 22 and the halfway line.

The visitors broke out just a couple of times, sufficient to kick two penalties, while Pontypool created nothing until it was too late, prop Neil Giles scoring beneath the posts for Watts to convert in the final minute.

Skipper Lucas, ill all week with food poisoning, showed true Pontypool spirit to get out of his sick bed and lead by example, while almost ever-present Giles and lock Matthew Amos, until replaced, performed well, but really this was another game Pontypool lost rather than their opposition won.

PONTYPOOL: D Smith, L Woodard, A Sliczney, S Williams, D Robinson (N Daniels 58min), R Watts, O Jones (A Quick 58min), N Giles, R Wilkes (G Robinson 70min), N Blake (G Liddon 60min), D Cox, M Amos (C Blunsdon 60min), L Burns, R Nash (P Sergeant 61min), G Lucas. Scorers: Try - Giles; conversion - Watts; penalties: Watts (2).

BRIDGEND: G David, R Howells, C Tossell, N Morgan, R Radford, M Roper, S John (M Griffiths 40min), T Hearne, A Joy (Dobbs 53min), G Long (L Manning 53min), H Alford, M Powell, G Williams, A Witney, D Fitzgerald. Scorers: Try - Witney; penalties - David (three).