THE Cross Keys players have been ‘hitting hell out of each other’ this week ahead of their Gwent derby with Pontypool at Pandy Park tomorrow.

Coach Greg Woods said training after their 36-7 away defeat to Aberavon had been no place for the faint-hearted.

At half-time last week, Keys found themselves 31-0 down at the Talbot Athletic Ground, staring down both barrels.

But the feared cricket score never materialised as an impressive rearguard saw the visitors win the second half 7-5.

Woods said: “The first half was a horror show. There were some brutal words said at half-time.

“Whatever you do after being 31-0 down, the game’s gone but the second half was positive after we’d looked like conceding 60-70 points.”

And this weekend presents the perfect chance to get the show back on the road as Keys search for only their second win of the season, as Woods said: “It doesn’t come bigger than Pontypool at home and we’ve got to front up to the challenge.

“For confidence and the mood at the club, it is crucial we win.

“There were a lot of serious faces at training this week and we’ve been hitting the hell out of each other. It’s the most brutal training I’ve ever seen at Keys.

“But there’s no point in doing it on a Tuesday night. We’ve got to do it on Saturday.

“If the real Keys turn up tomorrow then we’ll win this game.”

But Woods is wary of Pooler and has a healthy respect for them: “We’ve got a couple of DVDs of them and they bring an aggressive, hard edge to a game and they scrap for everything,” he said.

“They’ve got some quality players and Sam Mills at outside-half is good at controlling a game.

“We’ll be looking to play at pace and spread the ball wide but Gareth Lintern (Pontypool coach) is quite a shrewd character and I’m sure he’ll want to play an expansive game.”

Cross Keys: L Andrews, N Trowbridge, G Ferguson, S Regan, M Johnstone, G Ashman, J Leadbeater, D Preece, L Burns, C Gould, A Sweet, B Watkins (capt), C Bridges, J Malpas, T Lampard. Replacements (from): J Price, A James, G Gladwyn, M Curtis, R Nash, J Egan, C Pocock, R James