PRESSURE TELLS ON SEASIDERS IN THE END

Abertysswg 32-22 Penarth (HT 15-15)

The Seasiders have started the new season oozing class, but still find themselves without a win in the opening two games. Both opponents have employed high-pressure strategies, which Penarth initially adapted to well, only to be ground down themselves in the final minutes.

The breakdown continues to be a problem, as Llanharan had successfully denied the Seasiders quick ball a fortnight ago, while Abertysswg feasted on a plentiful supply of penalties in the same area this week.

The hosts were clearly aiming to use the scrum as an attacking weapon with a huge number eight being the key and this bore fruit as early as the 3^rd minute as their outside-half received a pass from the back of the scrum and fed his inside centre coming in at an angle and under the posts.

This stung Penarth into action as they gained field position in the home 22. Two drives from the maul under the posts were followed by a swift intervention from Morgan Williams before pin-point passing put Ben Wellington in at the corner.

It was nip-and-tuck all the way now until the last seconds of the game. For a time, the Falcons were in the ascendancy as they moved further ahead with a penalty and then a well-worked try from their full-back, leading 15-5 after twenty minutes. But the Seasiders were always in the game and a Josh Hurley penalty closed the gap before a wonderful passage of play brought them level. The restart was returned with interest and the hosts were forced to minor it. The goal-line drop-out led to a classic Harry Wood counter attack and a Tom Griffiths try for a half-time score of 15-all.

The second half started with Penarth on top, only for problems to arise in the 22 with scoring passes going astray. At this point Morgan Williams was forced to retire with a knee injury and James Docherty came on as a replacement. The hard work continued throughout a scoreless third quarter, before the Seasiders finally got their noses in front on the hour. Once again a well-managed maul with debutant Ethan Barry to the fore provided the platform for Harry Williams to force his way over in the corner.

Having seen their way clear to a hard-fought win, Penarth were brought down to earth with a bang as the Falcons, who’d previously looked as if they wouldn’t last 80 minutes, suddenly move up a gear and pulled the scores level with a try. With ten minutes remaining, the Falcons attacked frantically, gaining yet another penalty in front of the posts to open up a three-point lead. They claimed the winning try with a minute to go after a lengthy siege finally broke the Seasiders’ resistance. Penarth still found time for a response only for the scoring pass in the home 22 to be adjudged forward.

PENARTH:

Josh Hurley, Harry Williams, Andy Richards, Rhys Beynon, Ben Wellington (Joe Williams), Morgan Williams (James Docherty), Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood, Ethan Barry, Geraint Williams (Sean O’Sullivan), Dan Cahalane, Cam Sultana, Josh Spragg, Miles Jones, Tom Griffiths.

Scorers: Wellington (try), Griffiths (try), H.Williams (try), Hurley (2 conversions, penalty)

SEASIDERS START BRIGHTLY

Penarth 26-29 Treharris

Penarth RFC started the 2022-23 with a difficult looking pre-season fixture against Division 2 side Treharris at St Cyres School last Saturday. Whilst the result was a narrow defeat the performance was extremely promising particularly in the attacking third. The match was split into three periods to ensure as many players as possible got some game time with Penarth fielding an impressive 30 players over the 80 minute period.

In front of a big crowd, with the visitors bringing 2 bus loads down from Treharris, there was a clear difference in size between the two squads with Penarth having a numerical advantage whilst the visitors had a clear physical advantage, particularly in the forwards. It was this difference that paid dividends early in the first period as Treharris kicked a penalty to the corner and rumbled over with impressive rolling maul.

Penarth soon worked out that the keeping the ball quick and away from contact was the way to go and they made repeated breaks through the middle of the park with Morgan Williams, Andy Richards and Harry Williams linking up brilliantly to exploit weaknesses in the Treharris defence. After a period of sustained pressure the first Penarth score came from a familiar source as new vice captain Spencer Robinson showed his turn of pace down the blindside to scoot over the white wash.

After having the better of the first period Penarth unfortunately found themselves behind at the first break after Treharris had the better of a comical chain of events which saw Penarth overthrow a lineout before the ball was hacked up into the air only to be missed by the Penarth defence and bounce kindly into the arms of the advancing Treharris attack to cross for their second try and take a 12-5 lead.

The second period was a more disjointed effort from both sides as the heat and hard ground started taking its toll and Penarth’s set-piece went a little bit awry. The first score came after Penarth had managed to build an attacking position on the Treharris 5m line only for a wild pass to find its way into the hands of the Treharris centre who ran the length of the pitch to extend their lead. Penarth hit back almost immediately with Rhys Beynon splitting the Treharris defence with two fine dummies to go under the posts and bring the score back to 12-17. But as was turning out to be the way of things Treharris found themselves back ahead after a loose pass in midfield flat footed the Penarth defence and the other Treharris centre helped himself to a try.

The final period saw Penarth field what was probably their strongest available XV and it showed. Up front debutant Bradman Williams made an impressive impact as did hooker Tom Griffiths who was in fine form. Cameron Sultana showed that his summer has not detracted from the significant progress he made last season as he was the only Penarth player to appear in the full 80 minutes. New captain Miles Jones led from the front as Penarth really took it to Treharris and a sustained period of pressure saw Spencer Robinson record his second try of the afternoon.

Treharris came out flying from the kick off and soon got their noses back in front with another well worked forward effort but it was Penarth who finished the strongest as they piled on the pressure in the final 10 minutes. Their dominance was finally rewarded after Morgan Williams exploited a gap in the stretched Treharris defence to go under the posts and give Josh Hurley an easy conversion to finish the scoring.

Penarth have a week off next week before jumping into league action with a stiff test away at Llanharan which will provide an early indication of whether they will be challenging for promotional honours this season.

Penarth Squad: M Jones, S Robinson, R Beynon, R Morgan, H Williams, G Roberts, G Kynaston, A Richards, L Appiah, O Rees, J Docherty, J Hurley, M Williams, T Arthur, M Wiltshire, J Crothers, H Wood, B Williams, E Barry, T Grififths, R Jones, D Hedgecoe, A Lang, C Sultana, M Lang, J Peterson, S Davies, J Spragg, R Rees, AJ Jones

SEASIDERS: PURE CLASS

Penarth 64-7 Penygraig (HT 28-0)

Towards the end of a frustrating season for the Seasiders, players, coaching staff and fans now know what they always suspected – this is a seriously classy outfit.

On a gloriously sunny spring afternoon, they put a stamp on it as early as the first minute. Josh Hurley fielded a long up and under and set off. Andy Richards took up the running before passing to a looping Rhys Beynon who accelerated unstoppably to the line.

As tended to happen between scores, there was a brief lull before Spencer Robinson went off on one of his excursions, crossing half way with George Roberts in support. The scrum-half jinked past several defenders while the winger tried to guess his next move, finally receiving the pass from which he sped away to score.

After a brief bout of aerial tennis, Roberts was soon back in the thick of it, plucking a swirling ball out of the air under pressure and determinedly forcing his way through the cover to score his second.

By now ‘Graig were beginning to wonder if Penarth were simply going to add another whenever they felt like it and the bonus point duly arrived on the half-hour. Beynon made the first break, but the visitors’ defence were all in place, so the ball was worked to the opposite wing where Robinson made ground before pulling a pass back to Morgan Williams who quickly crossed for the fourth try.

The second half opened with both sides having to make do with 14 players following a fracas at the end of the first period. Penygraig had the worst of the deal, as it was their number 8 who saw red. Unfortunately the Seasiders were clearly enjoying themselves and in no mood to let them off the hook. From a line-out, Morgan Williams took the ball as first receiver and slipped it back inside to a rapidly-arriving Hurley, who simply slalomed through the defence at high speed and no-one could lay a hand on him.

Next up were two tries from blindside flanker Mike Lang, the first involving neat footwork and second the disdainful shrugging off of several tackles. Not wishing to miss out on the fun, Harry Wood was the next to make a line-break, but stopped a metre short of the line before the cavalry arrived and Harry Roberts claimed the eighth try.

‘Graig, by no means a poor side, never stopped trying, but sometimes it just isn’t your day. Hurley was well-placed to scoop up a dropped pass and run it down the tramlines for the ninth. The visitors finally got on to the scoreboard in the 68^th minute as a neat handling move brought their consolation try, but Penarth still had the last word as James Candy crossed under the posts after Richards and Roberts had done all the hard work!

Ten tries scored in such an exhilarating fashion in front of a sizeable crowd were ample reward for all the hard work that had gone into moulding this young squad into something special. The Seasiders rise to 5^th in the table and the next scheduled game is away at Tylorstown on 7^th April.

PENARTH:

Josh Hurley, George Roberts (Rhys Morgan), Andy Richards, Rhys Beynon (James Candy), Josh Powell, Morgan Williams, Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood (Geraint Williams), Mason Good, Ryan Jones, Cam Sultana, Andy Lang, Mike Lang (Joshua Spragg), Miles Jones, Harry Roberts.

Scorers: Hurley (2 tries, 7 conversions), G.Roberts (2 tries), M.Lang (2 tries), Beynon (try), M.Williams (try), H.Roberts (try), Candy (try)