PENARTH POWER TOWARDS PROMOTION
Penarth 17-12 Llanharan (HT 10-5)
Last Wednesday nights top of the table clash between Penarth and Llanharan had all the makings of a classic encounter. The two sides top all the charts, Penarth 1st in the league, best attack and second best defence, Llanharan 2nd in the league, best defence, second best attack. And it did not disappoint!
The game was played in dry conditions with a strong wind blowing from the Robinswood Crescent end of the ground which Penarth had first use of. And use it they did as a strong set piece laid the foundation from which veteran fly-half James Docherty kept the visitors pinned back in their half for the majority of the opening 40 minutes. From their the forwards did their best with both lineout and scrum working very well against a heavy Llanharan pack.
Despite their dominance it took Penarth 20 minutes to breakdown the Dairymen’s stoic defences as a relentless wave of forward drives took the Seasiders to within spitting distance of the try line from where Spencer Robinson was at his usual lethal best as he sniped through a gap to cross the whitewash. Docherty added the extras and shortly afterwards, following yet another scrum penalty won by the outstanding Penarth pack, he added a penalty to stretch the lead to 10pts.
Despite their difficulties in gaining a foothold up front Llanharan grew into the game and a good ten minute spell saw them pick up a couple of penalties which they sent deep into the Penarth 22. After some initially excellent defending weight of numbers, and the opposition second row finally took its toll and Llanharan had their first score of the evening.
Penarth were looking the more dangerous of the two sides and the hard running of Osian Coates and Andy Richards in the centre caused plenty of problems and left space out wide for the back three of Jimmy Crothers, Josh Powell and Ben Jones to exploit.
Up front Geraint Williams, man of the match Bradman Williams and Ryan Jones were totally dominant in the front row and Cam Sultana and Andy Lang provided the power for scrum. Although Penarth lost skipper Miles Jones to a recurring shoulder injury after a number of big carries, the sight of Owen Lloyd coming off the bench after recovering from the broken ankle he suffered back in October meant there was little respite for Llanharan.
Penarth should have scored on the stroke of half time, but some excellent last gasp defending saw Mike Lang held up just short.
At the break it was clear that Penarth had plenty to do in the second half playing into the ever strengthening wind, and Llanharan played their part as they came flying out of the blocks in the second half and laid siege to the Penarth line for the opening 15 minutes. After successive sets of excellent defending Penarth simply ran out of numbers as the Llanharan centre burst through under the posts leaving an easy conversion for a 10-12 lead.
Penarth were initially stunned by falling behind but slowly but surely built there way back into the game, primarily based on the increasingly dominant set piece and a somewhat more ambitious running game due to the fact kicking was borderline impossible into the wind. As Penarth grew in stature and started to dominate possession the large Llanharan contingent on the sidelines grew ever quieter and the Llanharan players started to tire.
Penarth needed no second invitation and took the game by the scruff of the neck and the last 20 minutes were a masterclass in ball retention, composure and devastating rolling mauls. Cam Sultana made a telling break but was tackled inside the 22 but still the ball was retained. After knocking on the door of the Llanharan line and being held up twice the breakthrough finally came through what is becoming a deadly double act as Robinson fed off the base of a ruck to the onrushing Tom Griffiths who blasted through two defenders to score under the posts and leave Docherty with an easy conversion with just 4 minutes left on the clock.
The expectation was that a nail-biting last few minutes would be in store but Llanharan just couldn’t get hold of the ball. First Penarth moved it up the left hand side before a penalty saw them deep into Llanharan terroitory another rolling maul and then a clean line break from Ben Jones who was held up a metre short and deemed to have held on in the tackle. So Llanharan would get one more possession but the line was overthrown, Griffiths tidied up at the back and Docherty kicked the ball off the field to record a momentous victory.
The win ensured Penarth remained top and strengthened their title winning credentials. With Fairwater, who are the only side outside the top three who could match Penarth’s current total due to number of games in hand, taking a 44-12 hammering at Clwb Rygbi promotion is all but guaranteed and Penarth’s eyes must now be firmly set on the title.
Penarth: Geraint Williams, Bradman Williams, Ryan Jones (Sam Sully), Cam Sultana, Andy Lang, Mike Lang, Tom Griffiths, Miles Jones (Owen Lloyd), Spencer Robinson, James Docherty, Josh Powell, Osian Coates, Andy Richards, James Crothers, Ben Jones (Ben Wellington) – Unused Subs: Mason Good, Osian Phillips
Scorers: S Robinson (try), T Griffiths (try), J Docherty (2 con, pen)
