Penarth into round 3 of the National Cup
Vardre 17-26 Penarth (HT – 3-14)
Having comfortably dispatched East Wales opponents Croesyceiliog in Round 1 back in September, Penarth headed west on Saturday to take on Vardre RFC of the Swansea Valley. Vardre were promoted to Division 2 West Central last year and were losing finalists in the Division 3 Cup competition – so this would no doubt be a test of the Seasider’s cup credentials in very wet and windy conditions.
The squad were followed west by a healthy travelling support which comfortably outnumbered the home crowd. Although there were signs of standing water across the playing surface, the pitch was deemed playable and the conditions did little to stem the irresistible force that is the Penarth attack. As expected, Penarth went about their usual business of soaking up the pressure of the opposition attack, and working the ball wide when possession was turned over. Indeed, there’s little doubt that Vardre will have realised early on in this contest that this Penarth team are as competent in defence as it is in attack.
Penarth’s game plan was to stretch the home defence and Harry Williams and George Roberts were finding space out wide at every opportunity. It was Williams who provided the first score of the match, as he crossed out wide for a try which converted by Ben Jones. Whilst a penalty brought Vardre back into the game, it was scrum half Spencer Robinson who took the game to the home side and crossed the whitewash to give the visitors a 14-3 half time lead.
A period of sustained pressure and attack from Vardre in the second half felt inevitable and it did appear that they were slowly moving through the gears as the game wore on, increasing the pressure and challenging the resolute Penarth pack both at the scrum and breakdown. An outstanding defensive set from Penarth on their own try line, superbly marshalled by centre Andy Richards, demonstrated the ferocious commitment from the team to support each other with each hefty tackle, including a number from Rhys Beynon, was raucously cheered on by the travelling support.
Whilst Vardre did manage to score to bring them within one try of the visitors, it was Man of the Match Robinson’s who put the game to bed with a quick-fire double to complete a hat-trick of tries. As has become almost expected of the livewire scrum half he again showed some incredible individual brilliance to beat the floundering Vardre defence and the game was very quickly beyond the Swansea Valley opponents.
A final scoreline of 26-17 to the visitors was well deserved and this was another demonstration of the capability and potential of this team. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect was the ability to adapt to the wet and windy weather conditions and still maintain the style of play which we have all been accustomed to again this season.
Attention now turns back to the league as Taff’s Well RFC visit the Athletic Ground on Saturday – 2.30pm kick off. Cup action will return on 2nd December, and we await the draw to determine Penarth’s next opponents.
PENARTH: Harry Williams, George Roberts, Andy Richards, Rhys Beynon, Ben Wellington, Ben Jones, Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood (Geraint Williams), Tom Griffiths, Sam Sully (Ryan Jones), Mike Lang, Dan Calahane, Harry Roberts (Tom Marsh), Miles Jones ©, Ryan Hall
SCORERS: Harry Williams (try), Spencer Robinson (3 tries), Ben Jones (3 conversions).
