LEADERS FALL TO SEASIDERS’ TRY-MACHINE
St.Albans 29-44 Penarth (HT – 0-34)
You leave the ground shaking your head, wondering how on earth to describe the last 80-odd minutes. In the end, you decide to stick to the basic facts: Penarth went over to Tremorfa Park, beat league leaders St.Albans by a margin of 15 points, scored five excellent tries and surged to the top of the table.
Was it as simple as that? Well, not entirely. Certainly the Seasiders were irresistible in a glowing first-half, where their defence denied the ‘Buns any momentum and the attack peeled off four superb tries. Leading 34-0 at the break, Penarth then entered some sort of alternative reality as St.Albans were allowed to pull back as many as five tries before Penarth finally got a toe-hold in the game. A superlative fifth try for the Seasiders sealed the result.
The match was only seven minutes old when Josh Hurley drove straight at the home defence, flipping a low, cat-flap pass to Josh Powell, who coolly side-stepped at pace past tacklers to open the scoring. .
No let-up in the pressure from Penarth, as a succession of scrums was capped by Spencer Robinson looping wide and feeding George Roberts on the right wing. The scrum-half tracked him into the 22 before receiving the inside pass to score.
Continued pressure led to two penalties from Hurley, the first from 49 metres, which extended the lead to 20 points, but the Seasiders didn’t let it rest there. Next up was a characteristic burst from Rhys Beynon, with Andy Richards taking the pass on the 22 and cutting in to the posts. A brief period of home possession was then halted as Penarth won a turnover on their own 22. The backs fanned out in a beautiful echelon turn, which became a three-man overlap by the time they’d reached their own 10m line and Richards again the inevitable scorer. Sheer poetry.
The second half began messily as the Seasiders failed to get to grips with the lack of structure. In fact, the game stuttered along for fully 35 minutes as the hosts somehow managed to notch up four tries in response.
With the score now standing at 24-34, Penarth were finally awarded a penalty, which James Docherty converted to extend the lead to 13 points, only for normal service to be resumed as the ‘Buns worked it down the touchline for an unconverted fifth try.
With their lead now reduced to 8 points and time running out, we all needed something special from the Seasiders and they responded with another beauty. Starting in their own 22 again, they fanned out in perfect formation, with prop Sam Sully in the line, setting George Roberts off on a sprint up the touchline. Robinson was up in support and took the pass on half-way for a classic side-stepping score to finally settle the contest. I’d stick with the first paragraph, it’s easier to imagine!
Next Saturday, it’s back to Division Three Cup action at the Athletic Ground as Penarth welcome Division Three East Rhymney, who claimed their first league win of the season last Saturday with a 17-10 win against Garndiffaith.
PENARTH:
Josh Hurley (James Docherty),, George Roberts, Andy Richards, Rhys Beynon, Josh Powell (Ben Wellington) Joe Williams, Spencer Robinson, Bradman Williams, Tom Griffiths (Luke Ellis), Ryan Jones (Sam Sully) Cam Sultana, Andy Lang, Mike Lang, Miles Jones, Harry Roberts.
Scorers: Powell (try), Richards (2 tries), Robinson (2 tries), Hurley (2 penalties, 4 conversions), Docherty (penalty, conversion)
