WHILE one famous club was lamenting a result that will lead to four seasons of frustration, a Gwent rival was toasting the culmination of six years of hard graft.

The example of Ebbw Vale will be cited countless times by Pontypool after their disappointment in the SSE Swalec Championship that means they will be looking on enviously at those in the Principality Premiership until 2020 at the earliest.

It looked certain that they would be in the revamped and ring-fenced 16-team top flight when Bargoed made a sluggish start to the season but it is to the 2015 champions' great credit that they rallied to put the pressure on Pontypool and then won a crucial April meeting between the sides.

That left Pooler relying on an RGC 1404 slip up and, no doubt to the Welsh Rugby Union's great relief, the north Walians admirably coped with the pressure to secure the fourth and final promotion spot.

So it's Bargoed, RGC, Swansea and Merthyr who head up with the last of that quartet no doubt eyeing the Premiership trophy that proudly sits in Eugene Cross Park.

The Ebbw Vale story will be of inspiration to those at Pontypool Park because one feared for the Steelmen when they went down in 2010.

It was Pooler who survived that season in a duel between the Gwent clubs and it was a campaign of chronic rugby at Eugene Cross Park with a paltry tally of 23 tries in 26 fixtures.

The Steelmen were in something of a shambolic state, lacking links with the smaller clubs in the area and reliant on a number of players from west Wales. Frowns were on faces.

But the rebuilding started under Neil Edwards with a core of local lads led by Damien Hudd. In the first year they won Division One East only to lose a tight promotion play-off to Glamorgan Wanderers when the winner was scored after a lucky bounce by Josh Navidi, now a regular with Cardiff Blues and a Wales international.

Edwards was distraught at the back of the South Stand at Cardiff Arms Park, too upset to talk after the frustration, but the first steps of the journey had been taken.

That summer historical debts were wiped out and Ebbw set about winning the Division One East title again, something they did with ease while also making the semi-finals of the Swalec Cup only to lose out to Cross Keys on try count.

There was no promotion but the Steelmen, under the stewardship of Jason Strange, entered the newly-formed Championship and promptly won it twice before their return to the Premiership.

They came back with a bang, finishing second and being denied by Pontypridd in the 2015 grand final before delivering on their promise to go one better last weekend.

There are so many good people at Ebbw who deserved their moment in the Sardis Road sun; they went through plenty of pain after 2010 but it has proved to be the making of the club. As corny as it sounds, they've rediscovered a bit of their soul.

It wasn't long after I had joined the Argus in 2007 that the Steelmen came close to winning the Premiership under Alex Codling.

The 'House of Pain' lived up to its name on that occasion when a try that should not have been allowed to stand by scrum-half Andrew Jenkins after a quick lineout (think Mike Phillips versus Ireland) allowed Ponty to sneak a win that helped Neath win another title.

That they slipped to the brink in 2010 was hard to take for so many of their loyal fans but the team have given them plenty to cheer since with an appetite for graft and self-improvement, commitment to the cause and by the desire to not let the teammate next to them down.

Those elements will be to the fore as Pooler attempt to follow Ebbw's lead by heading up to the Premiership with four titles to their name.

That feeling of it being their club and utter devotion to the cause is what has driven the success of the Steelmen, and it also serves as a warning to those who believe that there are loads of supporters who can be enticed by regional rugby.

At the Newport Gwent Dragons Q&A last month, chief executive Stuart Davies said that ideally they like to avoid Saturdays to leave that fixture slot for clubs.

A noble statement yet the hope that somebody will nip to Rodney Parade on a Friday or Sunday in addition to backing their local team on a Saturday seems a tad optimistic given the time and financial constraints facing many.

It also flies in the face of what has made Ebbw Vale (and Pontypridd for that matter) so successful.

Maybe future generations will be different, but those raucously cheering on Ebbw from the Sardis Road terrace on Sunday will never feel the same about another side, even if Newport and/or Gwent were to be dropped from the name.

To be a prosperous club they need to be insular, to look at how they can be the very best they can rather than getting bogged down in a bigger picture.

While there is an element of working with a region, clubs are also rivals to Newport Gwent Dragons. Whether Ebbw, Pooler, Bedwas, Newbridge, Blackwood or Caldicot, they are battling for the time and the money of individuals.

For many the Wales national team is increasingly only a minor distraction so it's an uphill battle for a region to actually gain tangible support from regular club fans. They aren't the ones they should be targeting.

The Steelmen are Premiership champions because Ebbw Vale RFC means so much to the players, staff, officials and supporters and they are a blueprint for many.

One love, we don't need another love. One love, one heart and one soul.

AT first glance it may seem like there is some sort of financial doping going on at the Liberty Stadium with the Ospreys profiting from a glut of players on national dual contracts with the Welsh Rugby Union.

Bradley Davies was added to the contingent this week, penning a deal that sees him join Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Biggar, Dan Lydiate, Rhys Webb, Scott Baldwin, James King, Rory Thornton and Dan Baker.

But in fairness the Ospreys do provide plenty of internationals and it is certainly not Newport Gwent Dragons' place to be complaining about them being given an extra helping hand.

The harsh reality is that other than Hallam Amos and Tyler Morgan, who are on dual contracts, there are currently no players at Rodney Parade who need them. The one who did was frustratingly allowed to slip through the net to Bath.

Kingsley Jones would no doubt have loved Davies to bolster his side but the Dragons are not an attractive destination for established Test players at present.

However, his counterpart Steve Tandy is going to be tested by the balancing act that comes with NDCs.

No longer will the Ospreys simply have the Ospreys in mind when it comes to selection. While dual deals have helped keep Jones, Biggar and Webb in Swansea and lured Lydiate and Davies, they also come at a price.