Match Report – Saturday 3 May 2014

St. Peters 46 – Penarth 29
That’s it for 2013/14 and despite another losing score Penarth finish the season with good reason to look forward with optimism.

Yet again, in this protracted end of season, injuries and unavailability dictated a makeshift look to the side. But with the help of a couple of old campaigners the young Penarth bloods coming through from the youth system did not look out of place at the higher level. In fact this contest could have gone the other way had it not been for technical deficiencies such as a failure to secure high kicks and tackling too high which the coaches will need to work on.

St Peters made the early running, Penarth’s re-jigged back row and young half back pairing needing time to settle. So despite Paul Collett breaking out with Joe Page using the freedom of flanker to support and feed Tom Hillman on the wing, surrendered possession at the breakdown plus a weak tackle allowed the home side to open the scoring.

Penarth hit straight back. Following a searching kick ahead by Kieran Carpenter and pressure on the home full back forced a panicked lateral clearance. Although the line out was not secured pressure was maintained and the back row union worked hard to gain the touchdown. Honours were even again.
St. Peters though are a slick outfit and play skilled fifteen man rugby. So their response was to abandon running wide and concentrate on short burst forward work in which they were assisted by a series of decisions that went against the defence. Having got all the territorial gain they required they were able to exploit some further weak tackling to score under the posts.
Immediately and with Penarth still in some disarray the move was repeated so that on twenty minutes the home advantaged stretched to an ominous 21 – 7.
However Penarth were showing signs of settling together. In the pack the front row were holding with Sean O’Sullivan supporting Mason Good at hooker and Jerome Bryan showing what he offers in addition to propping in putting in a series of effective carries. At half back Paul Beddis and Kieran Carpenter were gelling and this allowed established centres Mike Hurley and James Thatcher to create some telling breaks from midfield as well as Giving Hillman some space to work on.

So it was Penarth on the scoreboard next through a penalty after firstly a home attack was foiled by spectacular tackling back from the indefatigable Bryan and subsequently taking advantage of a bizarre home back pass that cleared not only the defence but also the dead ball line.

Again St Peters hit back collecting spilled ball and running it out wide but this time it was Penarth not allowing their opponents time to enjoy the moment. The restart was collected, worked up-field by Thatcher and Hurley, taken on by the back row and released to James Crothers on the wing. Within five minutes the dose was repeated. From a good attacking position Carpenter made the half break and found Crothers, who had drifted in-field looking for work, on hand for his second try.

With half time approaching Penarth had got themselves back within four points. Sadly they didn’t hang on and surrendered possession to stretch the half time score to 31 – 22.

The second half started with club Chairman Mike Clare taking a compulsory ten minute break from his shift in the second row and an eight point advantage accrued in his absence.
A long active but scoreless period followed. Both sides were competing well with noticeable scrum pressure from Penarth. Joe Page was denied after one of his power breaks and St Peters touched down only to be brought back by the touch judge.

Andy Pyman and Connor Cavanagh came and Bryan confirmed his versatility switching to back row and Hillman came in to scrum half from wing.

Adjusting seamlessly to these changes Penarth produced a little gem. Thatcher set off from midway leaving a series of defenders grabbing at fresh air; support at pace came from Hurley whose score earned a useful bonus point.

With home coach Mark Ring sensing real danger and exhorting his troops from the sidelines they managed a further score to put a result beyond Penarth’s grasp but the young guns had more than demonstrated their capability to challenge for places next season.

Penarth; Sean O’Sullivan; Mason Good; Jerome Bryan; Mike Clare; Richard Howells; Louis Chandler; Joe Page; Luke Crocket; Paul Beddis; Kieran Carpenter; James Crothers; Mike Hurley; James Thatcher; Tom Hillman. Replacements Andy Pyman; Connor Kavanagh.

SEASIDERS DROP AS ABERDARE TAKE THEIR CHANCES

Penarth 17 Aberdare 23 – Saturday 12 April 2014

For the second game running, the Seasiders scored three tries, but this time they had not one kicker, but two. Sadly this availed them little as only two points came from the boot, again a conversion under the posts. It was hard to put your finger on what was wrong with Penarth, as the second-placed club faced second from bottom, but they rarely looked as if they believed they could win this game. This was strange, as they held the upper hand in the scrum for eighty minutes, but just couldn’t make it count against a youthful Aberdare side staring relegation in the face.

With a stiff breeze at their backs, the Cynon Valley side made all the early running and were 6-0 up inside twenty minutes, even if the second penalty was weirdly inappropriately awarded. Still, although there seemed to be nothing too much to worry about, it was about to get much worse. A Seasiders attack broke down near the Aberdare 10m line and Mike Hurley unwisely fly-hacked the ball directly to the visitors’ left wing, who had the vision and pace to waltz through a misaligned defence for a 60 metre solo try.

The rest of the half belonged to the hosts, but despite a couple of tremendous individual breaks by Chris Poole and a lot of time spent in the Aberdare 22, they simply couldn’t make a convincing case for scoring any points and half time arrived with them still trailing 0-13.

The second half was better, even if the hosts struggled to make any real use of the wind. The pack now took matters into their own hands as Richard Ball hurdled over a ruck and was clean through to the line. The Aberdare scrum, creaking all afternoon, were pushed clean off their own put-in and Louis Chandler claimed the try.

The momentum generated by the Penarth eight in the following ten minutes should have taken them to victory. A lengthy siege in the visitors’ 22 saw a lot of mistakes from both sides and Aberdare tight-head Nathan Terry collecting a yellow card. The pressure told with a series of penalties before referee Aled Evans finally lost patience and awarded the Seasiders a penalty try.

With the score standing at 12-13, the visitors decided to go for broke and threw everything into a furious assault. The Penarth defence, usually so solid, lacked the will to resist and lock Adam Parry crashed over in the corner. Within minutes another series of missed tackles down the left flank saw flanker Owen Young with a clear run-in behind the posts.

With Grant Robson replacing James Docherty and Chris Poole moving inside to outside half for the final ten minutes, the Seasiders suddenly sprang to life. This new sense of urgency led immediately to a try as the ball was worked wide for James Crothers to score in the corner, but it was far too late and a jubilant Aberdare side celebrated at the final whistle as if they’d won promotion.

This was the last home fixture of the season and Penarth now travel to face runaway league leaders Cardiff Quins on Easter Saturday.
PENARTH Rhys Morgan, Paul Collett, Chris Poole, Mike Hurley, James Crothers, James Docherty (Grant Robson), Chris Mortimer, Gary Power, Joe Page, Sean O’Sullivan, Richard Ball, Jon Boland, Louis Chandler, Matt Sutton.

National League Division 3 (SE)
Saturday 19th April 2014
Cardiff Quins v PENARTH
The Diamond Ground, Forest Farm
Kick-off 2.30pm

Match Report – Saturday 22nd March 2014

Porth Harlequins 27 – Penarth 26

If you’ve a jaded pallet for rugby and believe the current game is dominated by reset scrums and aimless kicks then your faith would have been restored up the Rhondda Valley last Saturday.

Two sides served up nine tries in eighty minutes of high paced entertainment and skill with only one point separating them at the finish; great stuff.

Penarth set off facing into the cold wind gusting down the valley and early pressure came from the home side. A five meter line out was successfully defended but the subsequent possession turned over and flicked out to the home centre, Rowlands who faced a defensive gap wide enough for him to skip through and under the posts.

The Penarth response was immediate and determined. Rhys Lakin ran forcefully and fed the elusive James Thatcher who just failed to wriggle through. Nevertheless the attacking base was established and allowed the powerful Penarth front eight to shove the home pack back over their own line where Scott Mackie dropped down to set up the equalising score.

Seven points each was how it stayed for half an hour of vigorous to and fro competition until Penarth failed to secure ball and put pressure on themselves in their own 22. Porth sustained their attack at close quarters before releasing number 10 Morgan who needed only a 2 meter dash to touch down.

Penarth’s response was electric, Thatcher side stepped out from deep, releasing Lakin and then Ben Donovan who although just brought down short still managed to feed James Docherty whose delightful slip pass found Lakin re-entering and rounding off the move under the posts. The conversion was a formality and Penarth took the lead 12-14. With scarcely time to draw breath Penarth were back in home territory. This time it was Joe Page, normally a hooker, showing his versatility at flank forward and wisely holding to commit the defence so that Lakin, again, was clear to power over in the corner.

In barely two minutes Penarth had thrillingly turned a 5 point deficit into a 7 point lead.

Porth though were not minded to roll over and on half time took punishing advantage of Penarth’s failure to secure their clearance kick. Possession became sustained pressure on the visitors’ line and home wing, Coleman had just enough space wide out left to reduce the deficit by 5 before the whistle.

Half time Porth 17 – Penarth 19.

Porth ignored the wind disadvantage at the restart and mirrored their success from before the break with forward pressure once more allowing wing Coleman to touch down wide out.

Going unexpectedly behind spurred Penarth into determined attack, Rhys Morgan in looping support from full back was only just forced out. Then it was the home sides’ turn to fail to clear their lines and in scrambled defence they concede penalties which Penarth used to establish lines out rather than taking the points. Sadly they failed to sustain the rolling mauls developed from Jon Boland’s clean takes and no score resulted.
Substitutions were made. Mike Clare relieved Matt Sutton and Louis Chandler came on for Jerome Bryan who had done well moving from prop to hooker.

The rearranged Penarth pack sustained pressure on the home eight and when their maul did function they were able to release the outstanding Lakin to crown a powerful performance with a hat trick try.

With a 4 point advantage established and moving into the final quarter a Penarth victory looked assured but then the wheels fell off.

Penarth’s bugbear throughout had been failure to sure clearance kicks. When they stood off again and pressured themselves into defence, second row Boland was yellow carded. Play restarted and straightway the whistle blew once more, this time it was Mackie on the receiving end and the card was a harsh and disputed red for stamping.

The deficit of two in the pack was too much to quickly reorganise which Porth ruthlessly and immediately exploited with a fifth and final try from captain Lewis.

Thirteen man Penarth brought on Owain George for Chris Mortimer and defied the odds to launch a counter attack and gain a late penalty but Docherty’s long range attempt just faded wide and Penarth had to be satisfied with the two bonus points that four tries and a close losing score gained them.

Penarth:- Sean O’ Sullivan; Jerome Bryan (Louis Chandler); Richard Merrett; Richard Ball; Jon Boland; Matt Sutton (Mike Clare); Joe Page; Scott Mackie; Chris Mortimer (Owain George); James Docherty; James Crothers; Rhys Lakin; James Thatcher; Ben Donovan; Rhys Morgan.

Next fixture Saturday 29th March at home to Wattstown