PENARTH TAKE DOWN MAIN RIVALS
Penarth 27-21 Pentyrch (HT 12-7)
Eight points clear at the top of the table, “but we haven’t played unbeaten Pentyrch yet”. Well, on a chilly night under the Athletic Field lights, the Seasiders have firmly ticked that box. At the end of a fascinating contest between the division’s top clubs that more than lived up to its billing, Penarth are sitting pretty and thirteen points clear.
Pentyrch didn’t let themselves down, either. Aggressive defence and athletic attack combined with excellent handling skills made them a real handful, as expected. They even took the lead after 25 minutes in their first excursion into the Seasiders’ 22. Pulling the defence one way and another, they finally created a gap for their inside centre to drive through.
Penarth, who had spent most of the game so far on the attack, went straight back to work with a flowing backs move from one side of the field to the other. The intended scoring pass was deflected by a defender, but this didn’t stop Josh Hurley from claiming the try.
As the half drew to a close, the visitors had the Seasiders on the rack in their own half with two dominant scrums, but Spencer Robinson somehow managed to dig the ball out of the second and went off on one of his trademark breaks. Superb high-speed handing from his supporting backs and Josh Powell was taking the scoring pass in the corner for a half-time lead of 12-7.
More end-to-end action marked the early stages of the second half with several scoring chances missed, but on 55 minutes it was the visitors who again eased into the lead as their right wing took a pass on the half-way touchline and scythed his way 50-odd mertres through the defence to score by the posts.
It took Penarth all of five minutes to regain the lead. Huge pressure from Bradman Williams, with two massive drives meant Pentyrch just managed to keep Robinson out, but not Tom Griffiths, who forced his way straight though a gap on the hour to give the hosts a lead they were not to relinquish.
The result, however, remained in doubt throughout the final twenty minutes. The Seasiders kept up all the pressure, as Powell was denied a second try through a forward pass and then James Docherty converted a penalty in front of the posts to push the lead out to two scores.
Cue more excitement as quick hands put Powell clear on the left touchline only for him to kick ahead and be taken out. The referee obliged by awarding the penalty where the kick landed, Docherty put the kick into the corner, but that’s as good as it got as the maul simply fell apart.
Out of this confusion came a penalty for Pentyrch, which they worked rapidly upfield from the lineout to register their third try and reduce the Penarth lead to a single point.
With the score sitting at 22-21, the final minutes were a total mess as both sides frantically searched for the winning score. Fumbled opportunities and turnovers, while the referee struggled to make sense of it all. In the middle of this all, there was one clear head. With minutes remaining, the Seasiders were awarded a penalty in the Pentyrch 22. To a chorus of “take the points” from the crowded touchline, Robinson simply tapped, went and scored! There was the bonus point, but with a lead of six points and perhaps a minute and a half to play it was a relief when Penarth won a penalty on half-way. Then with 30 seconds on the clock, they were still forced to go to a final line-out before kicking the ball into touch.
Another top-of-the-table clash awaits as second-placed St.Albans are the visitors on Saturday before Penarth travel to play Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd at Canton on Wednesday 15th March.
© Peter Weston 01-Mar-23
PENARTH:
Josh Hurley (Ben Jones), Ben Wellington, Harry Williams (Andy Richards), Rhys Beynon, Josh Powell, James Docherty, Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood (Geraint Williams), Tom Griffiths, Cam Sultana. Andy Lang, Mike Lang, Miles Jones © (Bradman Williams), Harry Roberts (Sam Davies).
Scorers: Josh Powell (try), Spencer Robinson (try), Josh Hurley (try, 2 conversions), Tom Griffiths (try), James Docherty (penalty).
