DETERMINED SEASIDERS FIGHT BACK – Saturday 5 December 2015

GWERNYFED 10 PENARTH 22

There were lessons to be learned from losing their unbeaten home record against Dowlais the previous week and this time the Seasiders came out top of the class with a spectacular away win at windswept Talgarth.

Once again it was bound to be a game of two halves and this time Penarth had first use of the wind, with a clear need to rack up some points. They got into their stride early on as James Docherty slotted over a penalty after three minutes. With Gwernyfed fighting hard for whatever possession they could grab hold of, the Seasiders struggled to impose themselves and although Ben Hill made a couple of encouraging breaks, the only scoring chance came from a second penalty, which came back off the post. The hosts claimed possession, but almost immediately got turned over. Penarth shipped it smartly left, where Hill skinned the cover to score on the corner, Docherty converting expertly from the touchline.

The Seasiders’ pack was almost immediately in trouble, losing two scrums against the head, but then had a real let-off as the home scrum-half was done for feeding the put-in, allowing Penarth to launch a sustained assault on the Gwernyfed line. The hosts managed to clear their lines, but the Seasiders were straight back on the attack from the ensuing line-out, as Elliott Smith broke for the line and Alan Doyle followed up to score.

Turning to face the wind leading 15-0, it looked as if Penarth hadn’t got their noses far enough in front and when Gwernyfed pulled 5 points back with a try almost from the kick-off, the writing was on the wall. It didn’t quite turn out this way and the Seasiders quickly demonstrated that they’d worked out how to make progress in the teeth of a stiff breeze and worked their way into the home 22 with a precise short-passing game. No further score ensued for nearly thirty minutes, as Penarth continued to fight every inch of the way, and Elliott Smith turned in a man-of-the-match performance retaining possession time and again at the base of a beaten scrum. With ten minutes remaining, Gwernyfed finally gained a platform in the Seasiders’ 22 and a string of penalty advantages ended with Harry Roberts in the bin. The hosts resumed with a five-metre scrum and easily drove the depleted Penarth scrum over the line for a second try.

Penarth now led by only 5 points and the game was surely up; except that wasn’t quite how they saw it. Instead of manning the barricades and hoping for the best, they threw everything into a mixture pick-and-drive and short passing which saw them back into the home 22. What happened next exceeded all expectations as the Seasiders conjured up the try of the game. With the breakdown secured 15 metres out and the home defence all in place, Rhys Morgan took his time in satisfying himself that everything was in place before releasing the ball to the back row where Smith and Alex Thau drove clean through to the line, with Thau the scorer. Docherty completed the formalities with another finely-executed conversion and the Seasiders had their second away win of the season, rising again to fifth in the table.

This coming Saturday, 8th-placed Abercynon visit the Athletic Field in a re-arranged fixture, having lost their last two games away at second-placed Barry and bottom club Pontyclun.

PENARTH James Docherty, Ben Hill, Adam Lewis, Tom Luck, Paul Collett, Nathan Smith, Chris Rhys Morgan, Owain James [Mike Clare], Mason Good, Alan Doyle, Jerome Bryan, Lloyd Huxton [Harry Roberts], Scott Mackie, Elliott Smith, Alex Thau

Scorers: Hill, Doyle, Thau (tries),

Docherty (penalty, two conversions).

Division 2 East Central

Saturday 12th December 2015

PENARTH v Abercynon

The Athletic Field

Kick-off 2.30pm