Newport RFC continued their tun of form as they earned their fourth successive win, this time at Pontypool Park.
Pooler led 14-10 at the break, courtesy of tries from Scott Matthews and Kieran Meek despite a try from flanker Hunter Ward for the visitors.
After Meek kicked Pooler further ahead at the start of the second half, Newport drew level when a pinpoint Harrison James crossfield kick found Dragons youngster Noah Morgan on the wing to score.
Hooker Wade Langley broke from a maul to put the Black and Ambers ahead with a quarter of an hour remaining and it proved a lead the visitors wouldn’t relinquish.
Dragons fly-half Jac Lloyd kicked a penalty late on to secure the win and his 100% record off the tee as Newport went home with a 17-27 victory.
The win sees Newport push up the table to sixth in the table and a fourth consecutive win following their slow start.
Elsewhere, Ebbw Vale continued their imperious form with a stellar 38-6 home win against Carmarthen Quins.
With two of the league’s form sides going head-to-head this was expected to be a tight encounter and the early stages proved exactly that with an early penalty from the visitors answered with a try from Ebbw wing Dafydd Thomas.
Price added his second penalty of the game for quins but a textbook Ebbw driving maul saw hooker and top try scorer Ieuan Morris go over to make the score 14-6 to the hosts at the break.
Ebbw fly-half Dorian Jones kicked a penalty in the early stages of the second half, adding to his earlier conversions with the Steelmen relying on some solid rearguard action to keep their eleven-point lead.
In the final 15 minutes Dylan Bartlett crashed over for Ebbw before a pinpoint Evan Lloyd crossfield kick found Ewan Bowden in space with the winger doing well to cross for the bonus-point score.
In the dying moments Ebbw opted for repeated scrums under the Quins’ posts, eventually earning a penalty try and their fifth score of the evening.
Next up, all three Gwent sides are on the road with Ebbw Vale at Aberavon on Thursday night, while Pontypool visit Swansea on Friday and Newport travel further west to Llandovery on Saturday.
Pontypool: Carrick McDonough; Ioan Duggan, Pat Lewis, Joel Mahoney, Marcus Jones; Keiron Meek (c), Morgan Lloyd; Jake Wisniewski, Aneurin James, Kelvyn Williams, Joe Davies, Ieuan Jones, Scott Matthews, Callum Davies, Morgan Allen.
Replacements: Evan Wood, George Tuckley, Owen Popple, Lloyd Riley, Evan Minto, Ryan Jones, Logan Franklin, Harri Ford.
Newport: Carwyn Penny; Lloyd Lewis, Chay Foster-Smith, Harrison James, Noah Morgan; Jac Lloyd, Dafydd Buckland; Harry Frey, Henry Palmer, Garin Harris, Joshua Skinner, Cerrig Smith, Josh Reid, Hunter Ward, Ben Roach (c).
Replacements: Wade Langley, Tom Workman, Ollie Drake, Morgan Burgess, Kyle Tayler, Kobi Rees, Lucus Welch, Joe Salter.
Ebbw Vale: Evan Lloyd; Dafydd Thomas, Ethan Phillips, Dom Franchi (c), Ewan Bowden; Dorian Jones, Gruff Tough; Luke Garrett, Ieuan Morris, Morgan Bosanko, Dylan Bartlett, Curtis Gregory, Jack Pope, Ben Main, Ryan Jenkins.
Replacements: Joe Franchi, Morgan Williams, Adam Williams, Lewis Young, Joe Rees-Weldon, Rhys Harries, Cameron Davies, Morgan Richards.
