Sunday 2 April – We need help with the following.
Can you let Gordon Shumack or Phil Gooding know if you can help. Thanks. Even if only for a couple hours.
Prune and lop trees and take to tip
Deep clean Men’s toilets
Deep clean Ladies toilets
Deep clean Main bar
Deep clean cellar, repaint walls Read more →
Painting & Cleaning Day at club on Sunday 2 April.
Please support and encourage your sections to get involved.
Thanks
PENARTH 31 ABERDARE 34 – Saturday 11 March 2017
Penarth are developing a habit of facing up to higher-placed opposition, matching them and yet losing. Here was another one that got away.
Having lost 15-47 up at the Ynys in October, the Seasiders started out as if they ment to make a better fist of it this time as they took an early lead. An initial Matt Allen drive for the posts was held and recycled to the left-hand corner, where James Docherty finished well.
After two missed penalties, the Snakes then took the initiative at the end of the first quarter with two tries that owed much to defensive lapses. First Ieuan Archer went clean through the first tackle from a 22m scrum, with the second defender declining to offer any resistance. Seven minutes later scrum-half Paul Bevan tapped a penalty in the 22 and was ushered through to the posts.
Trailing 5-14, Penarth, in turn, took the game to the visitors and, at the end of 10 error-strewn minutes which really should have yielded an earlier try, they conjured one up from first phase as James Crothers rounded his opposite number in the corner. They should have scored again from the restart as well. Chris Mortimer ran clear in midfield with Allen and Crothers in support and a single defender to beat. The scoring pass never went in and Allen was tackled into touch.
The game soon swung back in the other direction as right wing Giorgio Perotto shrugged off the attentions of several tacklers to finish in the corner, but the Seasiders had the final word as they stole a 5m lineout and worked the ball out to Tom Luck who broke the line to score under the posts. Honours even as the teams turned around at 19-19.
Penarth piled the pressure on at the start of the second half and Aberdare outside-half Thomas Hopkins received a yellow card for a second ‘not 10’. Nevertheless, it was the Snakes who re-took the lead after 51 minutes as home defenders stood off a maul and left wing Ceirion Griffiths wriggled over in the corner.
The Seasiders really needed a score now and duly delivered. Scott Mackie stole possession 30m out and drove into the away 22. Ball quickly recycled and delivered to Tom Luck who scored his second in the corner. With the scores again level at 24-24, the turning point arrived on 65 minutes as Penarth conceded a penalty for offside in the ruck under their own posts. These three points were to be the difference between the sides in the end.
With 15 minutes still remaining, neither side was pulling up any trees, but three minutes from time, the Snakes seemed to have finally taken a decisive lead as Hopkins stepped past a suddenly static home defence to put his side ten points clear at 24-34.
The final act of this bizarre encounter was played out under imminent threat of the final whistle as error was piled up on error by both sides until Penarth finally secured the penalty that would have secured a second bonus point. Spurning the easy option, they put it into touch instead and Mason Good scored from the line-out, with Docherty securing the extras. Ten tries and only three points separating the teams as Aberdare walked out winners 31-34.
Next game in a fortnight is a tasty-looking home fixture against 8th-placed Pontyclun.
PENARTH James Candy, James Docherty, Tom Luck ©, Chris Mortimer, James Crothers (Nathan Palmer), Mitch Hickey, Gareth Mathias (Rhys Morgan), Sean O’Sullivan, Mason Good, Alan Doyle, Aaron Ellis (Owen Thomas), Anthony Pine, Matt Allen (Stuart Clarke), Alex Thau, Scott Mackie
Division 2 East Central
Saturday 25th March 2017
Pontyclun v PENARTH
Llantrisant Rd, PONTYCLUN CF72 9DQ
Kick-off 2.30pm
Penarth Athletic Club has a new President, Mike Gooding and new Chairman Phil Gooding looking to help take the club forward.
As you are probably aware clubs in the area are struggling and we are no different and need your support.
Additionally a programme of work is required to update the premises, Read more →
LLANTRISANT 10 – PENARTH 8 – Saturday 4 March 2017
There was a palpable sense of frustration amongst the players and supporters following this narrow loss on Saturday.
The team had brought a real sense of purpose and combative attitude to Llantrisant and during long periods of domination threw everything at the home side. The rolling maul was used effectively, pick and drive gained yards and backs cut in at searing angles to split the defensive line. But, and this is an enormous but, always at the point of score a small but critical error occurred; a little nudge forward or a fumbled take and the move petered out.
In the first half came a clear demonstration of why you can’t do this against a side lying second in the division. Penarth came out of the blocks like lightning. James Crothers gathering the home clearance, making yards out of defence and feeding the galloping Matt Allen in support. Allen’s powerful charge was foiled as he couldn’t reach Scott Mackie who was free on his inside and he was forced into touch just short.
A period in the home 22 sustained the pressure and produced a penalty as some consolation.
Both sides tried to play open rugby in unhelpful conditions, a sodden pitch and a bitter cross wind. Crothers again broke out powerfully from deep. Full back James Candy joined the attack only to be denied his touch down which was ruled as having followed a knock-on and then, when Chris Mortimer sliced through to ground under the posts, a forward pass was given.
Rugby can be cruel and all this Penarth domination was broken by a quick chipped Llantrisant clearance that bounced kindly and was gratefully touched down against the run of play. So Penarth had had all the pressure and just one penalty whilst Llantrisant from their only clear cut opportunity came away with seven points.
The second half brought some reward for Penarth effort. Scrum half Gareth Mathias was orchestrating his pack mauling effectively. This lead to an early touch down but the referee had seen some crossing in the attack and gave a relieving penalty.
Penarth regathered and the hard working front eight ground their way across the line once more. This time Alex Thau’s try was granted and James Docherty’s conversion gave Penarth the slenderest 7 – 8 lead.
Immediately this lead was sacrificed as the referee adjudged a series of infringements by which Penarth lost firstly territory and ultimately three more points.
Unbowed by this, Penarth started to feed in fresh legs to relieve those that had put in mighty efforts already and returned mainly to the business of making slow but sure progress through the domination of the pack. One dazzling exception to this came from the versatile Mortimer who glided across the whole Llantrisant defensive line before side stepping through and breaking three tackles before he could get no further and the defence just had time to re-form.
This was the last sparkle, there followed continued unstinting effort and wave after wave of Penarth pressure but all ending in frustrating errors. An outstanding display from much the better side on the day who deserved more than a solitary bonus point.
Penarth:- James Candy; James Docherty; Tom Luck (capt.); Chris Mortimer; James Crothers; Mitch Hickey (Tom Hillman); Gareth Mathias (Rhys Morgan). Elliot Smith (Stuart Clarke); Alex Thau; Scott Mackie; Anthony Pine (Aaron Ellis); Matt Allen; Alan Doyle; Mason Good; Sean O’Sullivan (Kieran Ryan).
PENARTH 0 PONTYPOOL UNITED 26
With Penarth’s home fixture against St Peters being postponed due to the Rocks’ visit to Nant Conwy in the quarter-finals of the Swalec Plate (they lost 21-5: featured on Scrfum V Sunday), a friendly was arranged against Div 2 (E) Pontypool United.
It’s been many years since the two clubs met, as the present district-based league structure effectively prevents it. The visitors are currently second in their division and looking a good bet for promotion, while the Seasiders started the game in sixth place in theirs.
The opening phases were mainly dominated by United, but the Seasiders’ defence held firm and didn’t miss a tackle until the 14th minute when the Pontypool left wing zig-zagged extravagantly through the Penarth 22 and under the posts.
There was no further score for 35 minutes. Not for want of trying, as Anthony Pine received a pass on his own 22 with limited options. The lock nevertheless took the opposition on, passing in the tackle to Huw Elias who ran it up the tramlines over halfway before handing over to Scott Mackie who fed Dan Seal. Illegally tackled, the United was binned.
No points were gained from the attacking line-out and the same resulted from a serious Tom Luck foray into the visitors 22 minutes later. The Seasiders dominated the remainder of the half with waves of attacks, with Elias coming close to breaking the deadlock
The second half brought a number of personnel changes and Penarth continued their search for the equalising score until the 50th minute when a United clearance was missed and they broke out. They had numbers on the right touchline and the ball was worked to the right wing who gave his opposite number the slip and ran in a try from 50m.
It’s amazing how quickly you can lose a game you’ve been competitive in and the Seasiders suffered another familiar collapse as Pontypool put the game to bed with a rapid-fire brace of tries. First their replacement number 8 burst clear down the middle with the acceleration of a centre-threequarter and fed his outside-centre who crossed in the corner, their number 5 lock showed an even more puzzling turn of speed and it was the speedy number eight himself who raced clear to score the fourth.
As they usually do, Penarth controlled the last quarter, but still couldn’t turn possession and territory into consolation points. In the final move of the game, United finally laid hands on a ball they hadn’t seen much of for twenty minutes and the number five was off again, felled only by a tremendous unattributed ankle-tap.
Obviously this was a disappointing result from such and evenly-contested friendly, but it was an excellent run-out against serious opposition for several young players who aren’t yet first team regulars such as Mitch Hickey, Harrison Pugsley and Ollie Shaw.
The Seasiders dropped a place to seventh as Gilfach Goch edged past with a win against Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd. The next league fixture will be a week next Saturday, away at Llantrisant.
PENARTH Huw Elias (Ollie Shaw), James Docherty, Tom Luck ©, Chris Mortimer, James Crothers (Tom Smith), Mitch Hickey, Owen Rees (Gareth Mathias), Sean O’Sullivan, Mason Good, Alan Doyle, Dan Seal, Anthony Pine, Matt Allen, Alex Thau, Scott Mackie (Harrison Pugsley)
Division 2 East Central
Saturday 4th March 2017
Llantrisant v PENARTH
Cefn Mably, Llantrisant CF72 8HA
Kick-off 2.30pm
DINAS POWYS 49 PENARTH 17 – Saturday 4 February 2017
For the first forty minutes of this local derby, Dinas looked very much the league leaders, while sixth-placed Penarth might have feared conceding in excess of 60 points. That the Villagers went in at half-time 28-0 up was simply because, as a team, they were faster in thought and deed than a committed and hard-working Seasiders outfit.
Except it wasn’t as straightforward as it sounds. Penarth conceded the first try after 13 minutes, but Dinas couldn’t move things along much until James Crothers was lost to the bin and they scored the second on the half-hour through a brilliant solo effort from their outside centre. Then, as they say, everything fell apart for a spell and the hosts took control of the match.
The third try was a penalty award as Scott Mackie pulled the home outside-half back in the act of scoring and while he was enjoying his own ten minutes on the touchline, the home side added a fourth as their number 4 charged down a Nathan Smith clearance and found all the time in the world to work out where the ball had got to before strolling over.
The second half was a wholly different affair as the Seasiders finally found a way to control the rampant Villagers, but the final score ended up rather lop-sided as the hosts scored a further try after 44 minutes and two late ones.
First the home scrum-half found himself on the end of a rapid sequence of passes on the left wing amid cries of “forward” from the touchline, but the Penarth fight-back began immediately as Nathan Smith made amends for the earlier charge-down by charging one down himself and scoring. He was also instrumental in setting up the second Seasiders try, tapping a penalty on half-way and making 30m. Crothers cut inside, but was held and the ball quickly recycled to Liam Union who scored in the corner.
By now Penarth had finally got a grip on things and as the home openside flanker departed with a yellow card, they claimed a 5m line-out and after a period of pressure, Gareth Mathias crossed in the corner and the score was a far more respectable-looking 35-17.
With the Seasiders now in a position where they could seriously look for a fourth try and an unlikely bonus point, the Villagers slowed the momentum with two quick tries. An otherwise solid Penarth defence was breached as a dog-leg allowed their right wing clean through for the sixth, while the outside-half cleverly ran around an injured player receiving treatment to score the seventh.
Penarth laid siege to the Dinas line in a frantic finish, but the bonus point try they probably deserved simply wouldn’t come. The team now face a four-week wait for the next league fixture as St.Peters, their scheduled opponents on 18th February, have reached the quarter-finals of the Swalec Plate and travel to Div 1 North Nant Conwy in North Wales.
PENARTH James Docherty, Colin Osborne, Liam Union, Tom Luck ©, James Crothers, Nathan Smith (Tom Hillman), Gareth Mathias, Richard Merrett (Jerome Bryan), Mason Good, Alan Doyle (Sean O’Sullivan), Dan Seal, Anthony Pine, Scott Mackie (Aaron Ellis), Elliott Smith, Alex Thau
Scorers: Nathan Smith, Liam Union, Gareth Mathias (tries).
James Docherty (conversion).
Division 2 East Central
Saturday 4th March 2017
Llantrisant v PENARTH
Cefn Mably, Llantrisant CF72 8HA
Kick-off 2.30pm
ABERCYNON 22 – PENARTH 29 – Saturday 28 January 2017
Entertainment and enjoyment were the key factors in this terrific game.
The trip up the beautiful Cynon Valley with sunshine following sufficient rain to make the playing conditions perfect was fully enhanced by the vigour and dedication of the participants. Throughout the ball was flung about when possible by both sides, this resulted in error occasionally but principally in positive flowing rugby.
A lively start and penalty allowed hooker for the day, James Docherty, to slot three points for the visitors
The hosts weren’t about to let that be built on and mounted an immediate assault on the Penarth line, led by their athletic back row forcing their way through to take five points of their own.
Things settled down for a while with both back divisions testing their opponent’s defence. Prominent in this was the astute chipping by Penarth outside half, Nathan Smith. More than once he turned the home defence inside out. But it was a thundering clearance from centre James Candy that gained the attacking line out from which Alex Thau found himself with the momentum to crash over and restore the three point lead.
Once again the home response was furious attack. The Penarth tackling was equal to it and held out. So when the next score came it was a ghosting step by Nathan Smith followed by the sweetest of back of hand releases to supporting wing Tom Smith. The territory gained meant that after Docherty was held up, centre Chris Mortimer was close enough to brush off attempts to prevent him crossing to extend Penarth’s lead.
Yet again Abercynon responded positively and clawed back three points for a penalty. That was not all, their number 11, Ricci Pugh, dazzled the defence with a jinking run and perfectly timed off load allowing centre Alex Grba a clear run in under the posts.
So half time arrived with two enterprising and well matched sides balanced at 15 – 15.
At the restart Penarth decided to vary the diet. Territory was gained and siege laid to the home line. Wave after wave of heavy artillery pressurised the home side into illegal defence and their tight head prop was sin binned. Despite this they still held out in spite of Penarth’s introduction of Richard Merrett’s considerable power.
A further blow to Abercynon came as rangy number 8, Jarryd Davies, who had been making a considerable nuisance of himself, took this too far and was also sin binned. Questionably, Penarth opted for the line out in preference to scrummaging the depleted home pack who grimly held out yet further.
This took the pressure off the home side and they celebrated by running and passing from all points of the compass giving the Penarth defence the chance to show that they too are no slouches in the steely determination department.
Sadly for the home support, all this enterprise ended in tears. A flowing attack culminating in a long pass was eagerly seized by Penarth’s flier Tom Smith. From well in his own half he gave a master class in what wings are for. Engaging full throttle for the length of the pitch, by the time he arrived he could have grounded anywhere. Nathan Smith in support entreated him to take his time and use up some more remaining seconds!
Mason Good took the field to help hold the one score lead against the inevitable home riposte, made more challenging with the sin binning of stalwart Elliot Smith, forced into holding on in defence.
Penarth nerves were now jangling with ten minutes to hold on and coach Boulton was resorting to bellowed guidance from touch. Then this was rendered unnecessary by perhaps the most delightful piece of rugby of the day. James Candy made another positive charge into the home 22 and found full back, Huw Elias, flying in at an unstoppable angle to give the two score lead needed as well as a bonus point.
Never-say-die Abercynon gained a try of their own and a losing bonus point at the death of game graced by the effort, commitment and not a little skill of all concerned.
Penarth:- Huw Elias; Tom Smith; James Candy; Chris Mortimer; James Crothers; Nathan Smith; Gareth Mathias; Elliot Smith; Alex Thau (c); Aaron Ellis; Owen Thomas; Dan Seal; Alan Doyle; James Docherty; Sean O’Sullivan. Subs. used, Mason Good; Richard Merrett
PENARTH 19 LLANISHEN 19 – Saturday 21 January 2017
After a respectfully observed minute’s silence in honour of Old Penarthians’ president Roy Churchill and with wing James Crothers celebrating 300 appearances for the club, the match itself was a bit of a let-down for the Seasiders. Faced with limited and unambitious opposition in Llanishen, they handed over three tries on a plate in the first twenty-five minutes, cruised to level terms in fifty, but were then unable to muster even the three points for a win, let alone a bonus point.
On a chilly afternoon with bright, low sun, it was the visitors that struck the first blow, but with ample assistance from Penarth. Reaction to a dodgy penalty award earned a further 10 metres and the subsequent maul released inside centre Nigel Gumbleton in the 22, running clean through a missed tackle and under the posts. As the Seasiders countered from the returned restart, the ball was passed straight to a Llanishen player and Gumbleton added a second out wide.
The Penarth response was enthusiastic, but fell well short of the mark.The referee had already demonstrated a clear low tolerance for slow ball from the breakdown, but this hadn’t filtered through to the players. Scoring chances and kicks at goal were missed and worse was to come as Llanishen gained a rare toehold in the Seasiders’ half. With the defence in place as the Llanishen scrum-half considered his options at a ruck, two defenders decided he was certain to pass right and moved to that side of the field. Observing this, the scrum-half simply passed left, where full-back Sam Williams cruised through the gap left and scored in the corner.
So far, Llanishen’s contribution to the game, apart from conceding penalties, was to take full advantage of glaring errors by their hosts and now enjoyed a 19-0 lead. At this point Penarth belatedly worked out what was going on, cut out the errors and regained control. The backs shipped quick scrum ball right along the line to Tom Smith, who made ground before chipping ahead. Huw Elias easily won the foot-race to take the ball at the first bounce and score.
All quiet again for a while, before the Seasiders again woke with a start and another flowing three-quarter move slowed briefly as Tom Smith was left too much to do in the corner. The ball was quickly recycled left where Alex Thau dummied over out wide.
Still trailing 12-19 at half time, Penarth were looking much more purposeful as the second period kicked off following the half-time pep-talk. Anthony Pine crossed early on, but multiple tacklers succeeded in preventing the touch-down. However, the Seasiders were now camped out in the Llanishen 22 and the visitors were collapsing scrums on a regular basis. As they eventually managed to stay on their feet for once, the Penarth eight steamed clean through and Thau crossed for the third try.
With thirty minutes remaining and the score at 19-19, there seemed to be nothing standing between the Seasiders and a comfortable bonus-point victory. To be fair, they tried pretty much everything, but were thwarted by high tackles, refereeing decisions, poor passes and other handling errors. Even when playing against 14 men as Llanishen lost a man to the bin, they couldn’t turn 15 minutes of constant pressure into any points at all. This culminated in a late decision to ‘take the points’ after another scrummaging penalty was awarded against the visitors, but the 30 metre kick was sliced wide.
This coming Saturday Penarth are the visitors to Y Parc, Abercynon. The score in the corresponding home fixture in September was 22-39, the Seasiders conceding six tries against two from Huw Elias and one from Alex Thau.
PENARTH Huw Elias, Tom Smith, Tom Luck ©, Chris Mortimer, James Crothers, Rhys Morgan (Tom Hillman), Sean O’Sullivan (Richard Merrett), James Docherty (Mason Good), Alan Doyle, Owen Thomas, Anthony Pine, Stuart Clarke (Aaron Ellis), Scott Mackie, Alex Thau
Scorers: Alex Thau (2 tries), Huw Elias (try)
Nathan Smith (2 conversions).
Division 2 East Central
Saturday 28th January 2017
Abercynon v PENARTH
Y Parc, Abercynon CF45 4RU
Kick-off 2.30pm
PENARTH 34 OLD ILLTYDIANS 0 – Saturday 7 January 2017
The Seasiders clearly fancied themselves in the tight as they established early scrum dominance against a lightweight Old Illts eight, but they couldn’t extend the advantage to the line-out. The visitors had the first go at opening the scoring, but missed a kick at goal and never really came close again.
Despite playing their full part in a scrappy and error-strewn game, Penarth clearly possessed the heavier ordnance and when Stuart Clarke claimed the ball in a line-out on the Illts’ 22, the pack drove it all the way to the line for an Elliott Smith try after 15 minutes.
To be fair, the Illts responded well and set up camp in the Seasiders’ 22 for some time. However, the hosts turned in some well-needed tackling practice, won a turnover and Adam Lewis cleared to the 10m line. Soon they made another clean take in a line-out in their own half and Chris Mortimer put Tom Luck away with Tom Smith in support. The wing was sent clear on half-way and motored round behind the posts, converting his own try for a 12-0 lead.
By now, Penarth had established full control over proceedings, except where referee Simon Beard took a different view. It didn’t seem to matter what approach they took, total dominance of all aspects of the game simply didn’t yield and further points until half-time loomed. Then the Seasiders scored two tries in rapid succession, moved the game way beyond the visitors’ grasp and claimed a try bonus point for the first time this season.
First Elliott Smith, giving his usual master-class at the base of the scrum, fed Lewis, who switched the ball left to Chris Mortimer drawing the defender for James Candy feinting to pass before dummying over. Then a rare Illts attack broke down as a deflection landed the ball at Tom Smith’s feet on his own 22. He expertly kicked ahead a total of three times over 75 metres to score his second try of the afternoon.
Leading 22-0 at half-time, there was a real expectation that Penarth were going to run away with it and within minutes, debutant left wing Colin Osborne had completed a well-taken touch-down in the corner, only for the referee to disallow the score for a knock-on. Just to complicate matters, the visitors’ front eight gained some respite after being shoved all over the place for forty minutes, as a prop was withdrawn through injury and all subsequent scrums were uncontested.
Alan Doyle seems to be developing a taste for line breaks, but two were not capitalised on as the pack failed to ground over the line, then the fifth try arrived in the simplest manner possible. A passive scrum 15m out was fed out to Lewis, who skipped over by the posts, James Docherty adding the extras. The sixth try was claimed by Candy with ten minutes remaining, but the game had gone beyond scrappy by then and was just a succession of penalties and errors.
Nevertheless, the Seasiders are enjoying a real run of form, having won four out of the last five league games since the end of October (and really ought to have won the other). They now rise to a heady sixth in the table, with a comfortable-looking eleven-point cushion between them and 11th-placed Pontyclun in the relegation zone.
No fixture is scheduled for this coming Saturday, so the next game will be Llanishen’s visit to the Athletic Field on Saturday 21st January. The north Cardiff club sit three points behind Penarth in 9th position.
PENARTH James Candy, Tom Smith, Tom Luck ©, Chris Mortimer (Tom Hillman), Colin Osborne, Rhys Morgan (Gareth Mathias), Sean O’Sullivan (Dan Seal), Mason Good (James Docherty), Alan Doyle (Richard Merrett), Owen Thomas, Stuart Clarke, Scott Mackie, Elliott Smith, Alex Thau
Scorers: Tom Smith (2), James Candy (2), Elliott Smith, Adam Lewis (tries)
Tom Smith, James Docherty (conversions).
Division 2 East Central
Saturday 21st January 2017
PENARTH v Llanishen
The Athletic Field, Lavernock Road
Kick-off 2.30pm
Penarth – Rhiwbina
9. Match Day
30/11/2024,
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | T | L | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | St Josephs | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 35 |
| 2 | • | Penarth | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 33 |
| 3 | ↑ | Rhydyfelin | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 30 |
| 4 | ↓ | Abercynon | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 29 |
| 5 | ↑ | Llanharan | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 23 |
| 6 | ↑ | Abercwmboi | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 20 |
| 7 | ↓ | Llanishen | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 20 |
| 8 | • | Barry | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 |
| 9 | • | Rhiwbina | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 5 |
| 10 | • | Porth Harlequins | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
