Much to learn for Seasiders
ST.ALBANS 31 PENARTH 19
After an encouraging defeat 19-24 last week as Machen drew their noses in front with the last move of the game, Penarth will learn far more from this encounter with Div 3 East Central B St.Albans at Tremorfa Park.
Admittedly the Seasiders were fielding a scratch side, with many players still missing and a lot of those present forced to play out of position. However, by the end of the game, two things had become quite clear. One: Penarth are going to have no trouble scoring tries this season. There’s enough quality and invention in the back division to make it look all too easy at times. Two: Penarth are going to leak scores like a sieve unless they can get their defence sorted out. Plenty for the coaching team to get their teeth into over the next fortnight before the season proper opens a week on Saturday.
St.Albans opened proceedings with a stiff breeze at their backs and good field position, but it was the Seasiders who looked to score first. A cracking break from Ben Hill, shaking off two tackles, fed Owen Rees on the right wing who set Harry Williams running from the 10m line. The centre looked certain to score, but some speedy work from the cover saw him hauled down a metre short.
Penarth soon suffered another blow as George Kynaston was stretchered off and sole replacement Rhys Morgan came on at full-back. Another break from Hill promised much, but this time scrum-half Spencer Robinson jinked to the line without completing the score. Robinson was beginning to show some real class as the Seasiders scrum settled and began to dominate. The first try arrived as they finally got it dead right. Rees took a pass out wide and made 20m before again feeding a pass inside to Williams who held off the cover to score in the corner.
The lead was short-lived, as the ‘Buns fought their way into the Penarth 22 for the first time after 24 minutes. Their outside centre skipped past a flat-footed defence to score behind the posts. A crucial missed tackle six minutes later allowed him to double his tally and good approach work on the stroke of half-time pulled a struggling Seasiders’ defence so far out of shape that the number 8 could stroll in at the corner with a spare team-mate in support.
Three tries in 13 minutes had left the hosts with a healthy 17-5 lead, so what could Penarth do with wind advantage in the second period? The answer came after only two minutes as a replacement for the home side skipped past a static defence to score his side’s fourth in the corner.
The ‘Buns’ defence was nevertheless tested as James Docherty kept them pinned in their own half, but they showed far more resolution and technique than the visitors and it wasn’t until the 56th minute that the Seasiders clawed one back. A Penarth scrum in the 22 was reset twice before Morgan pickled up and went over. Three minutes later the Seasiders came back to within a score at 24-19 as Robinson took a pass after a turnover in his own 22, beat one tackler and them steamed down the left flank for a superb individual try.
This was as good as it got and although Penarth dominated the final quarter, they never looked remotely like scoring and, as so often happens, St.Albans even managed a fifth try of their own as the inside centre was worked through a gap.
The Division Three East Central A league season begins a week on Saturday as Penarth welcome Penytrch to the Athletic Field
Team: Matt Holder, Iwan Baker, Sean O Sullivan, Mike Clare, Andrew Lang, Liam Richards, Alex Fulton, Chris Mortimer, Spencer Robinson, James Docherty, Owen Rees, Harry Williams, James Crothers, Ben Hill, George Kynaston (Rhys Morgan)
Scorers: Harry Williams (t), Rhys Morgan (t), Spencer Robinson (t), James Docherty (2c)
