PONTYPOOL will be looking to finish the job when they take on bottom club Ebbw Vale at Eugene Cross Park tomorrow afternoon.
A remarkable run of five wins on the spin has put Pooler on the brink of Premiership safety and they can seal the deal by avoiding defeat this weekend.
Only champions-elect Neath are above them in the form league, but there is no danger of Pontypool thinking it’s all over. After all, many thought they were doomed last year.
They saved their top flight status against the odds and are looking to make sure the Steelmen don’t match their great escape.
“It’s not over yet,” said coach Mike Hook. “After last season we know that we are not safe until the final whistle of the final game.
“We have got the chance to finish it off but we are not too cocky, we have worked hard to get ourselves in this position but we need to keep performing well.
“We know there will be a massive defensive effort from Ebbw Vale.
“They have got nothing to lose because of our position, but it is nowhere near over and they will be looking for a five-pointer against us.
“It must be five or six weeks since I said that the boys owed something to the club, and they have responded.
“The players have done everything we have asked of them - they have worked hard and put their bodies on the line.”
Pooler earned their 12-point lead over Ebbw with a dramatic 27-26 win over Llanelli on Tuesday.
But a bonus point win could easily have turned into a defeat when the west Walians mounted a dramatic comeback after a raft of substitutions.
They scored 26 unanswered points in the last half hour and were pressing in the Pooler half when the final whistle went.
“We knew that they were going to come back but the boys dug in,” said Hook. “The changes had to be made because the boys who came off had niggles and we needed to take them off as a precaution.
“But Llanelli’s fight back was not because we thought the win was in the bag.”
Cae Trayhern returns at openside flanker while Rhys Bowen and Dale Critchley are paired in the second row. Rhys Buckley and Calwyn Morgan get the nod at hooker and scrum-half respectively.
Pontypool: G O’Driscoll, S Taylor, C Macey, P Price, D Connolly, S Mills, C Morgan, J Jeune, R Buckley, N Blake, D Critchley, R Bowen, G Morris (captain), C Trayhern, M Allen. Replacements: J Evans, T Hancock, G Williams, S Pailor, M Barber, C Attwell, L Davies.
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