Seasiders downed by league leaders

Penarth RFC 12 – 39 Pontyclun RFC (HT 5-10)

It’s often said in rugby that the forwards decide who wins the match and the backs decide by how many. Unfortunately for Penarth on the weekend forward dominance was not enough to prevent Pontyclun’s flying backs from deciding the result and margin as the unbeaten league leaders stretched their winning run to 5 games.

Whilst the scoreline looks convincing it is more a reflection of the visitors lethal finishing than the balance of play, although it would be fair to say that in the final reckoning Penarth simply didn’t do enough to take anything from the game. Having heard much about the Pontyclun back line from other teams around the league it would appear the whispers were not without merit as full back Rhys Morgan, wing Iwan Price-Thomas and outside half Lloyd Wilkins ran Penarth ragged. It is no surprise that all three Pontyclun products are currently training with premiership side Pontypridd.

The early signs for Penarth were good, total dominance in the scrum and some successes in the tight phases of play found them some decent field position but in the absence of Alex Shore the lineout faltered under pressure and with their first opportunity Pontyclun broke free to opening the scoring through Price-Thomas.

Penarth were causing problems for the visitors but they just weren’t able to push home their advantage, in the main this tended to be due to small errors knock-ons and turnovers being particularly to blame although the leniency shown to the retreating and crumpling Pontyclun pack by the referee did little to allow Penarth really exploit their main area of dominance.

A second Pontyclun try extended the lead before Penarth struck back before half time with James Crothers finishing a well worked move which included some nifty handling from George Roberts who has clearly been watching the All Blacks in the World Cup.

With just a 5 point gap at half time Penarth were right in the game but as the second half wore on it slipped through their fingers. An early try from the visitors followed by a silky set piece play that saw the Pontyclun flanker under the posts for a bonus point stretched the gap to 22-5.

Penarth then had a five minute error free period and showed what they were capable of. A turnover put the visitors under pressure before a penalty was fired into the corner. Lineout taken the Penarth forwards marched forward and after a couple of phases Man of the Match Geraint Williams came up with the ball and James Docherty added the extras.

But that was as good as it got. Pontyclun stretched their lead with a penalty before Penarth surged forward, having gotten within 10m metres of the line the ball was stripped and Pontyclun proceeded to sprint 90 metres to seal the win. A further try came at the end of play as the impressive Wilkins sailed through a very leggy looking defence to add salt into the Penarth wounds.

Once again there was plenty to be taken from the match despite the result. The form of young loose-head Williams in particular is a huge fillip and the fact that Penarth tested the now out and out favourites for the league should build not hinder this young side’s confidence. Yes they need to tighten up in a few areas but there is no doubting the foundations for success are laid but there is plenty of building work to do.

Next week sees Penarth travel to the only other unbeaten side in the league the Old Illts. With only 2 league fixtures being played due to cup commitments a win could see Penarth rise as high as 3^rd in the league but it is sure to be yet another stern test.

Penarth: G Williams (H Wood), M Good (T Griffiths), A Doyle, A Lang, M Allen, J Spragg, S Davies, R Bowen, S Robinson, J Docherty, J Crothers (C Mortimer), G Roberts, B Hill, R Morgan (c) (K Maddox)

Scorers: G Williams (t) J Crothers (t), J Docherty (c)

Athletic back to winning ways

Penarth RFC 2^nd XV 34-14 St Albans RFC 2nd XV

With scheduled opponents Pentyrch unable to raise a side for the Division 1 League fixture Penarth were grateful to St Albans for stepping into to ensure that rugby was available to the Athletic XV who had a record 23 players available this weekend.

It proved to be a cracking game with the “Buns” fielding a big pack with plenty of experience against Penarth’s slick and youthful backline. The first half was a real tussle and the Penarth front five of O’Sullivan, Richards, Jones, Heywood and the returning Pugsley put in a big shift to maintain parity in the tight phases to free up the ball for the backs who were expertly marshalled by Morgan Smith.

As the game developed a definite pattern emerged with the visitors trying to keep it tight and build through the phases whilst Penarth looked to exploit their superior speed and dynamism which was fuelled by the tireless work of Thaine Baker, Rob Rees and impressive debutant Mike Lang at number 8.

Tries from Smith, the ever impressive James Walsh and Tom Venn opened up a 17-7 lead at halftime which Penarth never relinquished. The second half was more of the same as Caleb Docking made a welcome return in the second row and imposed himself on the opposition. Whilst out back the pace of Jake Briscombe and Leon Appiah on the wings was a constant source of menace for the Buns defence and Alex Fulton was a reassuring presence at full back.

The Second half brought a further try each from Smith and man of the match Walsh and front row power house Ryan Jones smashed his way over the sixth. Smith added an additional conversion and Penarth were victorious by 34-14. Penarth travel to St Albans in 2 weeks time in the league so this will provide a good trial run for that trip. Despite their lack of league action the Athletic managed to extend their lead at the top of the table as Taffs Well lost to Llandaff.

Next week sees the Seconds travel to reservoir Field in Barry to take on Barry 2nds in the Ron Lucock Cup, despite the fact that Barry have yet to win a game this season the fact that their 1^st XV have no fixture will inevitably mean that it will be a tough game.

Penarth 2nds: Sean O’Sullivan, Liam Richards (c), Ryan Jones, Harrison Pugsley, Ben Heywood, Thaine Baker, Rob Rees, Mike Lang, Ben McCarthy, Morgan Smith, Leon Appiah, James Walsh, Tom Venn, Jake Briscombe, Alex Fulton – Bench Caleb Docking, Sam Harries, Ian Cabral, Lloyd Ellis

Scorers: M Smith (2t/2c), J Walsh (2t), T Venn (t) and R Jones (t)

SEASIDERS LOSE THE PLOT

Penarth 23-34 Llanharan (HT 13-15)

Perhaps a cup run wasn’t anywhere near the top of the Seasiders’ shopping list this season, but that only goes part of the way to explaining this error-strew display. Visitors Llanharan were equally prone to messing things up, but had a knack of exploiting their opponents’ poor judgement.

The plan was clearly to test the Black and Blues with James Docherty’s kicking game. An early chip ahead was followed up by Leon Appiah to make the tackle and secure a penalty for a 3-0 lead. The visitors’ pack were giving early indications that there was no point getting into an arm-wrestle with them and every time they got field position, it spelled trouble.

They moved into the lead after 17 minutes after hooker Sam Llewellyn was mauled over in the corner, but Penarth went through the phases from the restart and pulled it back to 6-5 with a second penalty from Docherty. Then it was Llanharan’s turn to pick and drive their way up the middle, where a sweet slip pass to Roy Furnival saw the inside centre slice clan through and all the way to the line.

The little bit of good news was that the visitors hadn’t brought a kicker with them, so the Seasiders only trailed 6-10. That’s not to say they were having all the fun themselves as a missed penalty was followed by an interception by outside centre Lloyd Thomas. Appiah caught him after a length-of-the-field chase, but too late to prevent the third try.

Although trailing 6-15, Penarth were still well in the game and spent the remainder of the half in a lengthy siege which failed to yield any score until the last move as a catch-and-drive took Rob Rees over in the corner to reduce the arrears to two points.

The third quarter belonged to Penarth, as the Black and Blues handling game showed flashes of brilliance and then fell apart altogether. Errors of judgment on the part of the home side prevented any solid advantage until Docherty obliged with by taking the points from 56th minute penalty for a 16-15 lead.

The Seasiders were now totally bossing it in the tight and Llanharan seemed to have few answers, but an outbreak of white line fever prevented any further score until the 67^th minute when a brief spell of concentration on the job in hand resulted in a driven scrum and a classic number eight’s try from Miles Jones.

Two scores up and 13 minutes to play should have meant that Penarth had the tie in the bag and this certainly might have been the case had they not rested on their laurels and conceded three (3) tries in a row. Finding the hosts totally asleep from the restart, the visitors claimed precious field position and scrum-half Craig Burton went over in the corner. 23-20.

With five minutes to go and the Seasiders fully awake again, Owain Lord’s kick ahead took a deflection and Llanharan put it through the hands from their own half for replacement Richard Byres to score and add the extras. 23-27.

Penarth spent the last five minutes frantically trying to retrieve the situation, but a weird combination of total domination and errors again denied them a score. The final move of the match was a turnover under the Black and Blues’ posts, which was kicked upfield.

Three Llanharan backs simply surged past frantically turning Penarth defenders and left wing Liam Roberts finished off the afternoon with his side’s sixth try.

The Seasiders have so much to build on here, as well as plenty for the coaches to get their teeth into and next Saturday’s visit to Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd is an ideal opportunity to show what they’ve learned.

PENARTH:

George Roberts, Leon Appiah, Owain Lord, Andy Richards (Kevin Maddox), James Crothers, James Docherty, Rhys Morgan ©, Geraint Williams, Tom Griffiths (Mason Good), Alan Doyle (Ryan Jones), Andy Lang (Rob Rees), Alex Shore, Matt Allen, Miles Jones, Sam Davies

Scorers:  Rob Rees (try), Miles Jones (try), James Docherty (3 pen, 2 conv).

BONUS-POINT SEASIDERS DOMINATE

Penarth 32-3 Pentyrch (HT 18-3)

The Seasiders ended last season with a sixth successive bonus-point win away at Pentyrch and the visitors put a lot of effort into putting things right this time. Standing in their way was an equally determined home side, who needed to put last week’s defeat at Canton behind them.

The intensity never let up. The Tyrchs probably still can’t work out why they only came away with only three points, while Penarth must be still wondering how they only managed to convert about half of their genuine scoring chances.

Simply put, most of the game was played out in the visitors’ half of the field. Pressure from the kick-off brought the Seasiders a try after only six minutes as Jimmy Crothers went over in the corner. Successive huge line breaks from Harry Williams, Richie Bowen and Tom Griffiths only yielded a couple of penalties, but as Pentyrch brought more weight to the front row, they entered the only phase of the game where they had field position and any chance of scoring.

The good news is that although they were being pushed backwards in the scrum under their own posts, Penarth conceded no points and no yellow cards in an immense defensive effort that will stand them in good stead as the season progresses.

The Tyrchs eventually cracked and knocked on. Spencer Robinson broke clear, kicked ahead and followed up to complete a tackle on the visitors’ 22 metre line. Plenty of support at the breakdown and Miles Jones steamed around the ruck to score under the posts.

James Docherty returned the restart from deep, but the Seasiders were judged to have been offside and Pentyrch converted the penalty for their solitary score.

The hosts began the second half in fine style as a Docherty kick ahead was knocked on by the Tyrchs full-back and big scrum by the home eight allowed Robinson to jink over from ten metres.

Penarth were now in the driving seat and George Roberts was in the thick of it, leading up to a masterful cut inside, taking two tacklers with him as Harry Williams took the pass to score.

Leading 32-3 with 23 minutes remaining, the Seasiders looked set to indulge in some champagne rugby. However, Gower referee Wychersley had other ideas and the match limped to its conclusion through a string of penalties and injury delays which don’t merit description. A solid bonus-point win for Penarth which raises them to fifth in the table and much more to come from this squad.

Cup rugby next Saturday, as the Seasiders welcome Div 3 East Central A Llanharan to the Athletic Field.

WRU Specsavers National Bowl

Saturday 21^st September 2019

Penarth v Llanharan

The Athletic Field, Lavernock Road

Kick-off 2.30pm

PENARTH:

Rhys Morgan © (Kevin Maddox), James Crothers (Andy Richards), Harry Williams, Owain Lord, George Roberts, James Docherty (Kevin Maddox), Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood (Geraint Williams), Tom Griffiths (Mason Good), Alan Doyle, Anthony Pine, Alex Shore, Same Davies (Rob Rees), Miles Jones, Richie Bowen

Scorers:  Harry Williams (try), Spencer Robinson (try), Miles Jones (try), James Crothers (try), James Docherty (2 pen, 3 conv).

Sloppy Seasiders Ship Six

Canton RFC 40-22 Penarth RFC

For all the improvements and progress Penarth have made in the last 6 months this was a match straight from the realms of the start of last season. Playing against newly promoted Canton, who were as physically big a side as Penarth have faced in the last few years, the Seasiders were guilty of a slow and standoffish start which handed the initiative straight to the home side who needed no invitation to exploit Penarth’s deficiencies.

After 15 minutes of play the ball had seldom left the Penarth half and Canton had established a 21-0 lead which could easily have been more. The first came from a well worked move seeing the home centre over in midfield, the second a well rehearsed rolling maul and third a simple finish for the home wing after some disappointing defence allowed the centre to skip through untouched.

There was very little of note to mention from an attacking perspective from Penarth, their brief spells of possession punctuated by knock-ons, turnovers and penalties conceded. And with a highly efficient lineout Canton maintained the pressure and were camped within the Penarth 22. When Ben Hill was sin binned for an adjudged deliberate knock on it did not take the home side long to exploit the space created and wrap up the try scoring bonus point within 30 minutes.

Penarth did finally come to life after the enforced introduction of Richie Bowen after Andy Lang came off on the wrong end of a heavy tackle, and 2017-18’s player of the year showed just how much he had been missed last year as he brought some energy to the Penarth performance. Shortly after Matt Allen made some hard yards and George Roberts made a clean break, a last ditch tackle seemed to have halted the attack but captain Rhys Morgan was on hand to take the pass and go over under the posts. Morgan also added the conversion and a later penalty to move Penarth into the game.

However, Penarth’s progress was halted when Canton breezed through the sieve like defence once more to score their fifth try before frustration and a rush of blood got to Harry Wood who flew through the side of ruck to earn himself 10 minutes on the sidelines. Once again Canton made the numbers tell and their sixth score arrived on the stroke of halftime to leave them leading 40-10 at the break.

This could not have been a scenario that the coaches were contemplating at the start of the match but their response was swift, a triple change saw James Docherty, Harry Williams and Tom Griffiths replace Kevin Maddox, Andy Richards and Mason Good respectively at halftime and along with some harsh words the second half produced a display that, whilst ultimately not enough to take any points from the match, at least showed that the first 40 minutes was a blip.

Defensively Penarth were far more assured and in possession they were far more like the side of the last few weeks with more control and discipline to build phases and exploit the openings that followed. An injury to George Roberts 10 minutes into the second half saw Bowen move to centre with Harry Wood shifting back to second row to facilitate Geraint Williams’ introduction from the bench.

Penarth moved steadily into the Canton half and several phases close to the set things up before Docherty released Ben Hill to score on the left wing. Whilst Canton did have some territory in the second period Penarth were in the ascendancy and looked the most likely to score again. Hill went close again before Miles Jones was held up close to the line but Penarth were thwarted. It took until the last minute of the game for Penarth to score a well earned third but a gallant effort at trying to create one last chance was cut short with a knock on and they missed out on the bonus point.

Despite the dissappoinment of the result and the first half display there was plenty in this performance to be pleased about and if the first home game next week results in a victory over old foes Pentyrch then this can be put aside as merely one of those days.

Penarth – H Wood, M Good ( T Griffiths), A Doyle, A Lang (R Bowen), M Allen, J Spragg, S Davies, M Jones, S Robinson, K Maddox ( J Docherty), J Crothers, A Richards (H Williams), G Roberts (G Williams), B Hill, R Morgan (c)

Scorers – B Hill (t), R Morgan (t,p,c), M Jones (t) J Docherty (c)

The other good news for Penarth on a busy weekend was the reintroduction of the Second XV. Unfortunately rather than facing Llandaff North 2nds in the league, who pulled out on Thursday night, they were left facing Caerau Ely 1sts who were left without a fixture by the Old Penarthians not being able to raise a team. In a tough match, played for the most part with 14 against 15 after Paul Williams twanged his hamstring after 15 minutes, the Seasiders held their own despite a heavy defeat. The experienced front row of Richard Merrett, Iwan Baker and Sean O’Sullivan more than held their own and the second row pairing of Ben Heywood and Alex Shore were dominant in the lineout.

Skipper Rob Rees scored the only try for Penarth but there were plenty of positives to be taken above and beyond the fact that the club raised 2 sides on a Saturday. Next Saturday sees the visit of Llantwit Major 2nds in the league which should be a far more realistic challenge and chance for the seconds to notch up their first victory.

BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR SEASIDERS

Llandaff North 17 Penarth 57

You shouldn’t read too much into pre-season friendlies, especially where the opposition are from a lower division. Then again, having won their last six league games in 2018-19 with a combination of flair and dogged team spirit, this three-stage run-out amply demonstrated that both these attributes were still in place.

A squad of 24, yet still missing some first-team regulars, were keen to get on with things and after only two minutes they went in front as Kevin Maddox was on the end of a four-phase pick-and-drive to score under the posts. Six minutes on the clock they went further ahead as they stole a line-out in their own 22 and a huge break from Miles Jones gained 40 metres. Andy Richards was put through a gap and delayed the scoring pass superbly for George Roberts to score in the corner.

It’s worth mentioning that while the North lacked the attacking flair that Penarth could call on, they were fully committed in tackle and defence and this was no stroll for the visitors. In fact it took them fully 24 minutes before they added to their score during which time the North pulled a try back on a rare visit to the Penarth 22.

Then the difference in class began to show as the Seasiders ran in five tries without reply. First Harry Wood offered a jinking score from 2 metres and then Spencer Robinson took a lovely pop pass from Miles Jones on halfway before going off on one and scoring under the posts. By this time Leon Appiah had arrived and after two scoring passes to him had been misjudged, the young wing was on hand to catch a cross-kick from Ben Hill and feed Roberts, who passed back inside for Hill to complete the score.

Not, of course, to forget a pack with many new faces: Tom Griffiths at hooker, Sam Davies on the blindside flank and a lively debut from Alex Shore in the second row.

Now Roberts was again the provider as he put George Kynaston in for a try, then Nathan Frost picked up from ruck to stroll over, leaving the score on a comfortable 7-45 in Penarth’s favour. Roberts then found himself on the end of several passes by both forwards and backs to push the score out by a further seven points before the team visibly relaxed to let North in for two consolations. The final move of the game brought the visitors’ ninth try as Hill, Harrison Pugsley and Maddox combined to put flanker Sam Davies over in the corner.

PENARTH         George Roberts, Ben Hill (Leon Appiah), Owain Lord, Andy Richards, George Kynaston, Kevin Maddox, Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood (Lloyd Ellis), Tom Griffiths (Mason Good, Iwan Baker), Matt Holder (Alan Doyle), Alex Shore (Harrison Pugsley), Andy Lang (Nathan Frost, Anthony Pine),Sam Davies, Miles Jones ©, Josh Spragg (Hugh Leach).