Penarth Mauled by Badgers

Pontyclun 71-0 Penarth (HT 40-0)

Following strong showings against two of the division’s high flyers in the last couple of weeks Penarth headed to Pontyclun on Saturday in confident mood seeking a victory that would have moved them further into the comfort zone in the middle of Division 3A East Central. What unfolded in the 80 minutes however was an abject performance in which they were comprehensively outplayed in all departments by a side that started the day just 1 point and 1 position above them in the table.

The game started badly for Penarth as within 3 minutes the home side had crossed the whitewash for the first of their 11 tries. A long kick saw Ben Hill isolated and strongly challenged on the floor by the Pontyclun winger, the referee missed a clear knock on by home player which saw the ball spill out and the Pontyclun player following up crossed for an easy try.

Another try followed shortly after as a number of Penarth indiscretions allowed Pontyclun to kick their way into the Penarth 22, secure possession and cross under the posts for a well worked try.

Being 12-0 down within 7 minutes of kick should have sparked some reaction from the Penarth players but none was forthcoming and save for a couple of sharp breaks by lively scrum half Spencer Robinson Penarth never looked like troubling the scoreboard.

Four more tries followed before half time each looking much the same as the last as the home forwards dominated and overpowered the Penarth pack whilst their back line tore through the Penarth three quarters with impunity.

The half time score read 40-0 and whilst the second half couldn’t get any worse, it certainly didn’t get any better with a further 5 tries being added by the rampant Badgers. As the match wore on the home side in their black and white tops looked more and more like the Barbarians as their confidence swelled in the face of very little opposition and the ball was repeatedly recycled in more and more inventive and crowd pleasing ways.

The final ignominy for Penarth came in the final quarter whereupon it became obvious that the referee was trying to limit the damage on Penarth’s behalf with decisions that appeared to be based more on pity than any particular infringement from the home side.

It is hard to put a finger on exactly what went wrong for Penarth, although credit must go to Pontyclun whose run to the quarter final of the Bowl has reinvigorated their season and whose simple but effective game plan was ruthlessly and relentlessly executed. Whilst there were 5 changes from the Cowbridge match the previous week this was no excuse, indeed four of the five changes saw regular starters Richard Merrett, Kevin Maddox, Ryan Jones and Iwan Baker return to the line-up. The departure of top scorer Tom Smith to the bright lights of London is undoubtedly a loss to the side but not to this extent.

Given the forward steps taken over the course of this season Penarth have little time to dwell on this hiding and they need to bounce back quickly with some big fixtures on the horizon. First up are Treharris, who are one of the favourites for the title and a side who have already handed Penarth a thumping 54-29 defeat earlier in the season, followed by the biggest game of the season to date away at Gwernyfed who currently occupy the second relegation position and sit 6 points behind Penarth in the table.

With winless Cefn Coed cast adrift at the bottom and Clwb Rygbi undergoing a resurgence following their progress to the quarter finals of the Bowl it increasingly appears that Penarth are now very much in a relegation battle, with Gwernyfed as their main rivals. The Talgarth based side are the only team to have played more games than Penarth in the league this season so a Penarth victory would open up a healthy looking gap with the return fixture at the Athletic Field to come at the start of April.

But for now all attention will be on forgetting the Windsor Park debacle and getting back to more acceptable standards of play on Saturday.

Penarth: R. Merrett (H. Wood), I Baker (L. Richards), S O’Sullivan, R Jones, H Pugsley (A Fulton) J Hughes, C Mortimer, E Smith, S Robinson, J Crothers, R Morgan, G Roberts (O Lord), B Hill, J Docherty (M. Smith)

SEASIDERS ABANDONED

Tylorstown 27-22 Penarth (HT 15-22)  Match abandoned after 54 minutes.   

The game was halted after 54 minutes as referee Paul Richards was unable to continue having sustained an achillles tendon injury, but what a fascinating contest was unfolding before it was brought to an abrupt halt.

The result does not stand, as 60 minutes’ play had not been completed and the fixture will need to be rearranged, but we’d already seen both the good and bad sides of this young Penarth side and the coaches still have plenty to get their teeth into.

The opening minutes were dominated by home possession, but such was the quality of the Penarth tackling that the hosts simply never got beyond the ten-metre line. After ten minutes everything changed as a Tom Smith break brought play up to the home 22. Having cleared to half-way from a 5-metre scrum, the Tigers felt they’d weathered the storm, but Spencer Robinson simply took the ball from a scrum and ran it into the far corner from there.

There then followed a classic post-score lapse of concentration from the Seasiders as sloppy defensive organisation allowed a huge overlap and the Tylorstown no.5 went over in the corner. Penarth eased back in front with a Smith penalty after 20 minutes, but the Tigers came back with a second try ten minutes later.

A move came from deep with a clear but unpunished case of crossing and the home left wing made 40 metres down the flank before being well tackled on the line. Without support, the ball was available for the Penarth defenders, but no advantage was taken and the Tylorstown outside-half arrived to pick up and score.

The Seasiders then entered a purple patch and looked as if they might take control of the game before half-time. They were soon back in the home 22 and winning a penalty. Trailing by only two points, the posts seemed to be the right option, but Robinson tapped it quickly, beat two defenders and put Rhys Beynon in at the corner.

With three minutes to go before the break, it was all Penarth. Leading 10-15, they were soon back in familiar territory in the Tigers’ 22 with Robinson again in possession. The defence was all in place and all exits covered, but this presented no problem for the lofty scrum-half who, with a couple of changes of direction was under the posts with no-one being entirely sure how he’d got there.

Tylorstown nevertheless still had time to pull the score back to 15-22 before the break as two outrageously forward passes punched holes in a static Penarth defence.

Within only four minutes of the restart, the Tigers had drawn level as they patiently worked an overlap and the full-back scored out wide. Penarth seemed undeterred and should have gone into the lead again as great work from Robinson and Mortimer won a turnover and the resulting line-out was driven into the home 22. Ball worked wide, but as Tom Smith looked for all the world as if he’d secured the bonus-point try, the referee disagreed and declared ‘held-up’.

The pace of the game simply never let up and as the Tigers’ outside half completed a stunning score with a blistering continuous acceleration from a missed tackle on his own 10m line, the injury to Mr.Richards brought a scintillating contest to a premature end.

The Seasiders now welcome second-placed Cowbridge to the Athletic Field next Saturday hoping to repeat the five tries they scored in the away fixture without conceding the eight the hosts managed on that occasion.

SEASIDERS LET ONE SLIP

Old Illtydians 16-15 Penarth (HT 10-8)

Here it was at last, the one that got away. With the warm-up being conducted in high winds and torrential rain, the game seemed unlikely to go ahead, but the pitch remained solid throughout.

It could be argued that the match was lost in the first minute, as Illts ran back the kick-off and a Penarth defence still adjusting to the fact that the game was in progress failed to halt a slick move down the left flank, conceding a try and going a man down as Dan Seal was yellow-carded for impeding.

Despite this early shock, the Seasiders settled quickly and took control, as they were to do for much of the afternoon. Working play upfield through several carefully-managed phases, they eventually mauled their way over the line for an equalising try from Josh Spragg.

This didn’t alter the fact that they were one man light and two minutes later Illts had a scrum 30m out, which they drove, winning a penalty advantage. Their right wing exploited this with a clean line-break, putting his outside centre in at the corner.

The home side’s back division had a number of players that looked as if they would have been comfortable playing at a higher level, but the Penarth defence had pretty well got their number and they were to cause the visitors no real trouble from this point on.

However, this turned out to be a much tighter game than the opening ten minutes had suggested and a Tom Smith penalty after half an hour was the only other score before the teams turned around at half time with the home side 10-8 in the lead.

Illts began the second half with a succession of penalties as their discipline deteriorated and the Seasiders came more into game. The early introduction of Spencer Robinson and Harrison Pugsley sparked further life into the visitors and they should have scored after a tapped Rhys Beynon penalty made huge inroads. Nevertheless it was the hosts that scored next in a rare visit to the Penarth half of the field as their outside-half converted a penalty after 67 minutes.

But the Seasiders could sense the Illts were tiring and threw everything at them in the last ten minutes. This could arguably have won them the game and raised them to an unlikely fourth in the table, but for two mistakes. With six minutes to go, a Penarth assault was halted in front of the posts as the ball was turned over and Illts finally managed to exploit the wind by clearing 70m down-range. Then an attacking scrum in the Penarth 22 was turned into a penalty at the insistence of one of the Seasiders’ replacements and this allowed the hosts the comfort of a two-score lead and left the visitors without even a losing bonus point.

The irony was compounded two minutes later as Penarth put together the move of the match as they surged 40m into the home  22 and an Owain Lord pass set Kevin Maddox running around the posts for a converted try. A losing bonus point secured, but it could have been so much more.

In the final game before the Christmas break, the Seasiders visit 5^th-placed Pentyrch next Saturday.

PENARTH:

Tom Smith, James Crothers, Owain Lord, Rhys Beynon (Ben Hill), Aaron Thomas, Kevin Maddox, Rhys Morgan © (Spencer Robinson), Sean O’Sullivan, Liam Richards (Harry Wood), Alan Doyle, Owen Thomas, Andy Lang, Josh Spragg (Harrison Pugsley), Miles Jones, Dan Seal

Scorers – Spragg (T), Maddox (T),  T.Smith (P, C)

Seasiders Rumbled

Fairwater 34-10 Penarth  (HT – 29-3) 

It’s hard to say if any lessons can be learned from a defeat at Waterhall Park, as is usually the case, except that the Seasiders are still finding it difficult to deal with the levels of, shall we say, intensity that the ‘Water bring to bear.

At least there were no injuries, which is unusual for this fixture.

Penarth toughed it out in the opening minutes, but soon began to lose concentration, turnovers and penalties in the face of the home side’s intimidatory tactics. They held out until the seventh minute, then conceded a penalty which the hosts swiftly tapped and set the number eight loping down the right flank and behind the posts.

Within seconds of the restart, their lively openside flanker ran clear from the half way line and repeated the dose. Eight minutes gone and the Seasiders were 14-0 down.

The sides exchanger penalties as Penarth finally managed to get hold of some useful field position, but they entered the second quarter, a superb reverse pass on the edge of the 22 sent the openside in for his second.

The referee was struggling to make much sense of the home side’s tactics and one particular opportunity to penalise as the Seasiders drove a maul towards the line was missed, leading directly to Fairwater claiming their fourth try from a scrum at the other end of the field.

With 26 minutes gone and ‘Water firmly in the driving seat and a bonus point under their belts, the referee finally got to grips with their antics and Penarth slowly edged their way back into the game. Indeed there was no further score for 45 minutes.

The hosts were now shipping penalties by the bucketfull, although no yellow cards until the number eight departed just before half-time.

The second half belonged to the Seasiders, scoring 7 points to Fairwater’s 5. Opening with a 40 metre break by James Docherty, then any number of Fairwater infringements, another yellow card, a huge line break from Rhys Beynon and, as late as the 71^st minute, a try for the visitors.

Penarth had got a drive on from a scrum in the 22 and although the referee could have justifiably gone between the posts at any time, Elliott Smith saved him the trouble by driving over for the consolation.

All that remained was ten minutes of constant pressure from the Seasiders, interrupted by a single handling error and a breakaway try for the hosts’ inside centre.

No doubt relieved to have got that one over and done with, Penarth face a different kind of challenge next Saturday as they welcome winless bottom club Cefn Coed to the Athletic Field.

PENARTH – James Docherty, Ben Hill, James Crothers, Rhys Beynon, Aaron Thomas, Kevin Maddox, Rhys Morgan ©, Richard Merrett (Sean O’Sullivan), Iwan Baker (Ryan Jones), Alan Doyle, Dan Seal, Andy Lang, Alex Fulton (Liam Richards), Elliott Smith, Alex Rigby

Scorers – E.Smith (T), Docherty (P, C)

Beynon steals the limelight is sensational first win

Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd RFC 23-46 Penarth RFC (HT 13-22)

For all intents and purposes this satisfying seven-try win against arch-rivals Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd could define the Penarth RFC campaign in Division 3A of the WRU leagues this season. It arrived after a heart-breaking series of six consecutive defeats, during a period of uncertainty following the relegation from Division Two, beset by absenteeism, injury worries and a feverish rebuilding campaign.

A look at the Division 3A League table would probably help to better understand the predicament of the Seasiders, as the stats reveal the paradox with the season grinding to a halt until November the 10^th. After seven matches, Penarth are 9^th in the Division 3A table, though they scored more points (176) and more tries (26 – equal with leaders Cowbridge) than any other team. That reveals a tremendous attacking potential, unfortunately unmatched by the poor defence – with the Seasiders also top the table for most tries (31) and most points (232) conceded.

Credit to head-coach Matthew Bolton and his assistant Tristan Davies, captain Rhys Morgan and vice-Captain Chris Mortimer nobody hit the panic button, as the club seemed reasonably well-equipped  to turn the corner. It is a fact of life that it is far more difficult to instil attacking flair and creativity in a rugby team, than train defensive skills and patterns. This is valid both individually and for the team as a whole. With the Penarth attacking potential duly displayed during the previous six matches in which they scored 19 tries for three bonus points, this was what Bolton and Davies had to address during a two-hour defence pummelling session the previous Thursday, which provided the ground work for Saturday’s proficient defensive effort.

It was indeed a satisfying turning point in the recent history of the club, to see the opposition backs running aimlessly across the field in search of that elusive gap, which never opened. Penarth defended boldly, with the new-look back row of Chris Mortimer at No8, skipper Rhys Morgan (replaced after half time by Jack Hughes) on the blind side and newcomer Alex Rigby at No7 making a nuisance of themselves. The front five of Harrison Pugsley, Alan Doyle, Sean O’Sullivan, Dan Seal and Andy Lang and Richard Merrett and James Docherty after the break,  impacted massively, both in defence and attack, though it is quite clear that there is still work to be done. One of the mysteries of this thoroughly entertaining match, was the way in which the match official seemed oblivious to the overwhelming superiority of the Penarth pack, who obliterated the Clwb eight at every engagement in every scrum. 

After each Clwb Rygbi attack, the way Penarth defenders realigned themselves to be able to withstand the next attack was one of the keys to an otherwise sound performance. The back three, Tom Smith, Ben Hill and Aaron Thomas tackled their hearts out and contributed mightily to the attack efforts, though the veracity of about half of the 23 Clwb Rygbi points, including a couple of penalties and an astonishing penalty try, remains highly unconvincing.  The beauty of it all is that there is still room for improvement as the Penarth players get increasingly accustomed to the defensive skills and work together to perfect them. They will have an opportunity to prove their point on November the 10^th, when the League programme resumes in full with a home match against Penygraig.

Overall this was probably one of the most enjoyable matches played this season, with the two sides giving their best to secure the win. As coach Bolton observed after the match, “This was an important match for both relegated clubs, not only for championship points, but also an attempt to rebuild their confidence for the next rounds.” This is probably why, despite the mounting score, Clwb Rygbi returned to attack with a vengeance every time and must be given credit for their incessant belief, translated into a relentless pressure applied on the Penarth line. Presumably the consistency of the Penarth defensive effort has taken them by surprise, not to mention the speed the turnover ball was recycled into attack and then scoring opportunities.

The key factor in this beautifully choreographed metamorphosis was the speedy service of scrum-half Spencer Robinson, whose pace and accurate delivery have impressed the pundits. His partner, veteran fly-half Kevin Maddox, at his third campaign with Penarth, benefited greatly from Robinson’s quick service, producing a masterclass of outside-half distribution and control. As he moved the ball quickly and with address to other side, the quick-witted men outside responded in kind, unleashing blistering counterattacks, in which both the ‘Man of the Match’ Rhys Beynon and his centre partner Owain Lord played their part. Between them the two centres scored four of the seven tries, a hat-trick by the effervescent Beynon and one by the polished Lord, who is playing better than ever. Two other tries were signed off by Ben Hill, who in addition to his newly discovered appetite for try-scoring has produced together with the other wing Aaron Thomas, (and then his replacement James Crothers) an impressive defensive effort. The seventh try, in fact the first to be scored chronologically, was signed off by tight-head prop Alan Doyle, the anchor of Penarth scrummage, who has had a storming game overall, unstoppable in the loose and menacingly dominant in the tight. A confident and influential fullback Tom Smith added one penalty and four conversions from a variety of angles, to reach the final figure of 46 points scored. 

PENARTH – Tom Smith, Aaron Thomas, (James Crothers), Owain Lord, Rhys Beynon, Ben Hill, Kevin Maddox, Spencer Robinson, Harrison Pugsley (Richard Merrett), Sean O’Sullivan (James Docherty), Alan Doyle, Dan Seal, Andy Lane, Rhys Morgan (captain) (Jack Hughes) Alex Rigby, Chris Mortimer

Scorers – Doyle  (t), Lord (t), Hill (2t), Beynon (3t) T.Smith (4c 1p)