DELIGHTED Pontypool head coach Leighton Jones had nothing but praise for his side’s character and belief following a famous victory at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.

Championship leaders Pooler produced the upset of the WRU National Cup first round, as they registered a first win in the competition against Llanelli after nine previous failed attempts.

But the tie wasn’t only a chance for Jones’ men to progress to the last 16, it was also an opportunity to send out a message to Welsh club rugby’s elite.

Because of ring-fencing, the Principality Premiership is out of bounds to Pooler over the next couple of years, so the fact this triumph came against a top-flight team made it that little bit sweeter.

“There’s a lot of character and belief in the team and the boys are really pleased with the win,” said a jubilant Jones after Llanelli were sunk 19-11.

“The league’s going well but, as we said in the week, it would be nice to show that we’re not just doing a good job in the Championship and we can compete with the Premiership teams.

“So it’s nice to go down to a tough place like Parc y Scarlets and get the win like we did, and in the fashion we did.”

He continued: “I think we wanted it a bit more. We’re really tight as a squad and the culture in the changing room is what pulled us over the line.

“We had a plan to try and dominate territory and squeeze them into mistakes, and I think that game plan worked quite well.

“It’s hard to pick people out but a few of the forwards put in a really big shift, Matthew Jones and Kieran Meek kicked well for us, and we were really hungry as a XV.

“There were times when we made some errors and didn’t convert our pressure into points but, overall, we probably deserved the win.

“We’ve got a belief in the squad and the team, and we’re not afraid to travel anywhere in this competition.

“We’ll focus back on the league now but there is a belief that when the cup comes around again we can get another win.

“We’d just like a home game in the next round, get one of the Premiership sides up to our place and test ourselves again.”

An Aaron Quick try and Matthew Jones penalty gave Pooler an 8-0 lead, before Jonny Lewis cut the gap to five at the break with a three-pointer of his own.

Lewis added another penalty after the restart and then crossed for a try to put the hosts 11-8 up.

Pooler came back and Jones levelled the scores with the boot, while replacement hooker Alex Watkins burrowed over on 70 minutes to give the visitors the lead again.

And Jones put the seal on the win with a third penalty in the closing stages.

“Pontypool played really well,” said Llanelli head of rugby Kevin George. “They put a lot of pressure on us in the air and our attacking play wasn’t good enough.

“We kicked poorly and they kicked well, and they out-battled us, so they truly deserved the win.

“It’s disappointing for us to go out of the cup in the first round, especially at home, because I thought we had enough in our game to win, but obviously not.

“We’re in the quarter-finals of the B&I Cup with more or less the same bunch of boys, so a performance like Saturday’s doesn’t really add up.

“Collectively, we’re nowhere near where we should be, but nothing should take away from the fact that Pontypool deserved it.

“Matthew Jones was excellent, he and the scrum-half just ran the game. They put Pontypool in the right areas and pressurised us, and we came up with too many mistakes.

“If they get the right draws then they can go as far as anyone in this cup. They matched up with us and they will match up with a lot of Premiership sides.

“Anything could happen and they could go a lot further in the competition.”