THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

St Josephs 22 Penarth 21 – Saturday 24 January 2015

It was heavy going at Blackweir last Saturday, but both sides picked up where they left off at the Athletic Field in September and the pace simply never let up. The chief difference this time was that St Joseph’s ended up with their noses in front, albeit by a single point after a 79th minute penalty.

The hosts made a storming start, driving a maul clean through the 22 to the line where the Seasiders’ defence recovered superbly to prevent the try, but when the ball was whipped out to the right wing, the tight-head prop was waiting to score with more than a hint of a double movement.

Straight from the restart, Penarth were right back in the game as James Docherty converted a penalty from 25 metres. Some interesting refereeing decisions slowed progress as a lively stalemate ensued, but with the wind at their backs, the hosts were always controlling the territorial battle.

But without scoring. The Seasiders’ commitment was unwavering as they drove back each attack and cleared up-field, only for the Jo’s to run it back time and again. A little bit of inspiration was needed to break the deadlock and it was Penarth who came up with it. Smart work by Nathan Palmer saw him snatch an interception out of the air in his own half and, jinking free of the wrong-footed defence, he raced clear for an exuberant score.

Turning round at half-time with their backs to the wind, the Seasiders scented a real opportunity and laid into St Josephs from the kick-off, taking advantage of a rare error by the home outside half, who was otherwise having an ominously good game. A short siege on the home line ensued, followed by a try from returning lock Jon Boland and a 15-7 lead for the visitors.

This only served to encourage the hosts, who drove up into the Penarth 22 from the restart and overwhelmed the defence to score their second try. The Seasiders weren’t having any off it, though and struck back immediately with a Docherty penalty as the home inside centre went off with a yellow card.

With thirty minutes remaining, the game was finely balanced, but Penarth were six points to the good. Then the home outside-half took time out from getting his back line going and shook off a couple of tackles on half-way. Skipping through the rest of the defence as if they weren’t there, he scored in the corner and the conversion put St Josephs into the lead 19-18.

This was against the run of play and the Seasiders were soon back in contention with a vigorous maul into the home 22 and a Docherty penalty to change the lead yet again, 19-21. With ten minutes to go, Penarth were beginning to look as if they could hold on to this narrow lead, if not extend it as they kept play in their opponents’ half with some ease. Nevertheless, on entering time added on, all it needed was a penalty and in one final foray into the Penarth half, St.Joseph’s gained just that, with their outside centre converting to secure a last-gasp win.

The Seasiders drop back a place to eighth, but in the last four outings they have displayed such character and form that any thought of relegation has to be fanciful. They face fourth-placed Ponytclun at the Athletic Field next Saturday and will surely give them a run for their money.

PENARTH Rhys Morgan (Simon Barry), Nathan Palmer, Alex Thau, Tom Luck, James Crothers, Kevin Maddox, Gareth Mathias. Richard Merrett, James Docherty, Jerome Bryan (Sean O’Sullivan), Mike Clare, Jon Boland, Scott Mackie [C], Elliot Smith, Tom Bartlett.

Scorers: Nathan Palmer T
Jon Boland T
James Docherty 3P,1 C