GRIT, DETERMINATION AND A GRIFFITHS HAT-TRICK

Penarth 17-13 Fairwater (HT 5-10)

Having beaten the league leaders a fortnight ago, this time the Seasiders welcomed second-placed Fairwater to the Athletic Field. The west Cardiff side are always a tough proposition and they certainly didn’t make it easy for Penarth.

Playing into a gentle breeze, the home side made a great start as Josh Powell made a storming run down the right touchline, linking with Spencer Robinson and Harry Roberts before George Roberts was tackled into touch 2m from the line. The Seasiders claimed the line-out and Tom Griffiths notched up the first try.

It wasn’t going to go their way for long, though, as they spent the rest of the half defending in the face of a string of penalties, allowing Fairwater to build pressure before they finally cracked the defence on 24 minutes as their left wing squeezed through a gap to score from 2m. With a further penalty 5 minutes before the break, the visitors led by five points at half-time.

The second half began poorly as a long-range penalty from Fairwater eased them into a two-score lead at 5-13, but the rest of the game belonged to Penarth as they got their noses in front. Ten minutes into the half, a stunning 50:22 touch-finder from Josh Hurley knocked the stuffing out of the visitors, Mike Lane taking a clean catch and a textbook drive saw Griffiths over the line for his second try of the afternoon.

The Seasiders finally re-stated their attacking credentials on the hour as a lovely outside break from prop Sam Sully, followed by an inch-perfect inside pass set up the next try. Hurley came on to the ball at pace, but was stopped just short of the line by the visitors defence. Penarth were not to be denied, though as the ball was worked right for Hurley again, then George Roberts drove for the line, working just enough of a gap for Griffiths to complete his hat-trick with a 15m dart to the line.

With the best part of twenty minutes remaining, Fairwater gave it their best shot in trying to close the gap, but the Seasiders defence saw them home with some ease.

Next Saturday, it’s back to the Division Three Cup with an away tie at group leaders Tylorstown. Having failed to secure a bonus point against Rhymney last week, Penarth unfortunately cannot now qualify for the knock-out rounds.

PENARTH:

Josh Hurley, George Roberts, Andy Richards (Harry Williams), Rhys Beynon, Josh Powell, Joe Williams, Spencer Robinson, Geraint Williams (Harry Wood), Tom Griffiths, Ryan Jones (Sam Sully), Matt Allen, Andy Lang, Mike Lang, Miles Jones, Harry Roberts.

Scorers: Tom Griffiths (3 tries), Hurley (conversion).