Witches' hats and pumpkins might seem bizarre accoutrements in deepest France, but Hallowe'en is alive and well in Brive, and on Saturday many of the bars and boutiques on the capital of the Correze were well equipped to chase away the evil spirits.

As a precaution, the tiny and sadly famous Le Toulzac bar remained resolutely closed, its metal grill locked and barred. But thankfully, over at the Stade Municipal, the third instalment of the weird trilogy of Brive versus Pontypridd was devoid of the malevolence and sinister violence which characterised their first meeting here.

Only one point separated the teams after their two previous encounters, and, as this quarter-final play-off eventually showed, there is little if anything to differentiate them.

In a curious match which first looked like producing a runaway win to the locals, who then had to come from behind to win in the dying stages, the rivalry between Brive and Pontypridd remained as intense as ever.

If the first half belonged almost totally to Brive, the second half was a different story, with the depleted Welsh displaying unexpected resilience and depth of character.

The European champions started at an alarming pace, looking hungry for tries after a threeweek lay-off, and just as desperate to play spectacular running rugby. They attacked virtually every ball and quickly had the Welsh on the back foot. Brive shot to 10-0 after 10 minutes, and continued to press Pontypridd in all sectors of the game.

When Brive stole a ball from a scrum on the Welsh put-in after only 14 minutes, things looked even more ominous for the visitors, and it seemed as though they would be swept away.

Laurent Travers, the bustling little hooker, added five points with an effortless try following a superb break from Carbonneau who, after picking up a tapped ball from Eric Alegret, had burst straight through the Pontypridd line-out. When the half-time whistle sounded, Brive were not only ahead 18-0, but Pontypridd had not had a single scoring opportunity.

At the break, however, the gremlins took advantage of the 10 minutes to infiltrate the Brive camp. Their concentration drop ped, their application evaporated, and they even took the liberty of changing two forwards only minutes into the second period.

Pontypridd, although clearly missing the penetrative power of their banned number eight, Dale McIntosh, sensed their chance, and while Brive started to dither, the Welsh pack upped their commitment and started to dominate set phases. In an astonishing period of play they racked up 20 points in 11 minutes: two penalties to Neil Jenkins, followed by converted tries to Mark Spiller and Dafydd James. Suddenly the Welsh were in the lead 20-18. As if stung back into action by the barrage of boos from their own crowd, within three minutes Brive struck back, regaining the lead 25-20 with a try to Jerome Carrat.

The match ended with Brive failing to score from a series of attacking scrums, but on the fulltime whistle, as if to bring down the final curtain on this unhappy saga, players exchanged jerseys, and opposing front row forwards fell into each others' arms. It was almost like the good old days.