Pride, Self-belief & Courage

CR Cymru Caerdydd RFC 30 Penarth RFC 24 – Saturday 4 October 2014

Deprived of some of its leading players and forced to play without a bench (substitutes), Penarth produced arguably one of their better performances in recent memory, giving Division Two East Central high-flyers Clwb Rygbi Cymru Caerdydd a genuine fright in the closing stages of a dramatic encounter played at high pace and intensity at the Llandaff Fields in Pontcana. That fact that this composed, thoroughly competent display arrived after the 62-0 annihilation at the hands of St.Peter’s the previous weekend, contributed to the sense of accomplishment of this plucky outfit and the bewilderment of the enthused spectators.

With about ten players side-lined with a variety of injuries and ailments, the news that the main front-row cover for Saturday’s match called in sick just hours before kick-off, seemed almost unreal, adding a sense of injustice and of course insult to what by and large was a pretty dicey state of affairs. So unable to find a replacement front row player at such short notice the Seasiders had to play for the whole duration of the match with fifteen players only. And didn’t they play? The fact that at the conclusion of the 80-odd minutes of playtime Penarth walked away with two bonus points, one for scoring four tries and one for losing by less than seven points, seemed almost miraculous, given the circumstances of the match build-up and tells the whole story of an exciting performance full of pride, self-belief and courage.

The match started in its usual fashion, with Penarth on the back foot, missing tackles, the vital first tackle in particular, losing balls in the air, both at kick-offs and lineout and giving away soft tries. But it was not all bad news, as one could notice the seeds of what was to follow were sprouting into frantic bouts of activity orchestrated by outside half Kevin Maddox, a former Penarth regular, who returned to the Rec after several years at Rhwibina. A try, a conversion and a penalty took the opponents to a 10 point lead, when a persistent spell of attacks saw Maddox bursting through the CRCC tackles for the first Penarth try of the afternoon. Another tentative CRCC attack, saw them through for their second try, which converted took them to a 17-5 lead. But then Penarth bounced back with a vengeance.

The cornerstone of the Penarth audacious fight-back was the front five-unit of Jerome Bryan, James Docherty, Sean O’Sullivan, Mike Clare and Richard Howells, with the front three giving their CRCC counterparts a torrid afternoon. It was from such a dominant scrum that No8 Elliot Smith picked up, with his back-row partner Trevor Blake, the link man, carrying the move forward and scrum-half Rhys Morgan following up to receive the final pass and sprint through, crashing over for Penarth’s second try.
Sensing that the match was slipping away from their grasp, CRCC attacked frantically, with their live-wire No10 Oliver Jenkins, orchestrating the onslaught. But the confidence of Penarth was growing by the minute, so when Tom Luck’s fierce tackle brought his opposite number shuddering to the ground, his centre partner James Thatcher, emerged with the turnover ball gliding gracefully through the bewildered CRCC back line, to end up under the posts. What a try! James Docherty converted, for a 17-all half time score.

After the break, an infringement at a ruck in the Penarth half, ended with Trevor Blake being yellow-carded and CRCC’s Jenkins landing a vital three-point penalty to take the lead 20-17. Jenkins’ tactical kicking kept Penarth pinned down in their 22, and despite the gallant efforts of the Penarth back three, fullback Tom Smith, and wings Kieran Carpenter and Louis Chandler, the locals, taking advantage of another lapse in the Seasiders’ concentration, and Blake’s absence, scored another try, extending their lead to eight points 25-17.

Though virtually exhausted, (the fifteen players who started the match carried on playing until the bitter end), Penarth still had some fire left in the engine, with James Docherty intercepting a ball and springing for more than 80 yards to collapse shattered under the posts. After a while he recovered and landed the conversion, which brought Penarth back in contention 25-22. Again Jenkins kicked CRCC back into the Penarth 22, from where their forwards managed to conjure a new try 30-24.

Penarth (1-15) Sean OSullivan, James Docherty, Jerome Bryan, Richard Howells, Mike Clare, Scott Mackie (Cpt), Geraint Blake, Elliot Smith, Rhys Morgan, Kevin Maddox, Louis Chandler, Tom Luck, James Thatcher, Kieran Carpenter, Tom Smith

Scorers: Tries: K Maddox, R, Morgan, J. Thatcher, J Docherty, Cons J. Docherty 2