RUSTY SEASIDERS LOSE IT
Pentrych 39-14 Penarth (HT 12-11)
Penarth had been without a game for five weeks, while 11th-placed Pentyrch had completed two: a 13-13 draw at Llanharan and a 24-5 home defeat against Fairwater. For the first fifteen minutes, the fifth-placed visitors looked very much the part, but the remaining 65 minutes didn’t exactly go to plan.
The Seasiders went into an early three-point lead with a Josh Hurley penalty and followed this up ten minutes later with a cracking opening try. Outside-half Andy Richards spotted a gap and surged through with his three-quarter line in full support. Harry Williams injected a killing burst of pace and George Roberts smartly finished the move off in the corner.
This sort of thing is very much on the menu these days for Penarth supporters, but that was about all the visitors brought to the party on this occasion. A combination of Pentyrch’s intensity and persistence frustrated the Seasiders and once they had fallen behind, their frantic attempts to play catch-up rugby just made things worse and worse as the weather closed in after half-time.
It took the ‘Tyrchs twenty minutes to register a score, but for most of this time they were camped out in Penarth 22, finally breaking the visitors’ resistance as openside flanker Dylan Atkins forced his way over from short range. Even now, Penarth led 8-7 and even extended the lead with a further Hurley penalty slotted over from the 10-metre line.
But this was deceptive, and the home side were beginning to suspect that there might be something in it for them. How right they were. A second try duly arrived as one of their centres set off for the left-hand corner. He had two outside backs in support, but didn’t need them as he accelerated away from the Seasiders’ cover. Only Spencer Robinson was able to catch him, but not soon enough to prevent the score.
Even the 12-11 half-time score turned out to be an over-optimistic indication of Penarth’s chances in the second half, as despite losing centre Huw Williams to a yellow card after 44 minutes, ‘Tyrchs’ lock George Coxwell scored from close range following yet another penalty conceded by the visitors..
The Seasiders were by now fully aware that they were in trouble, but instead of steadying the ship, they rushed everything and the mistakes piled up while the score just didn’t. A third Hurley penalty was the last real throw of the dice, reducing the deficit to five points after 46 minutes.
The rest of the game belonged to a jubilant Pentyrch as they ran in a further three tries in the last 15 minutes. The bonus point was secured with a second try from flanker Atkins, while a fifth was added by an unidentified forward after a short siege.
The sixth and final try was featured the scorer of the second successfully chasing a long kick ahead with a flagging Penarth defence looking on in despair. A last-minute penalty was the final indignity as the Seasiders’ conceding an extra 10 metres twice to make it a formality.
No further league action for Penarth now until the visit of Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd to the Athletic Field on Saturday 4th Janaury 2020 and the traditional Boxing Day fixture this year is replaced by a festive fixture featuring a contest between Coach’s XV and Captain’s XV at the Althletic Field, kick-off 12 noon.
PENARTH:
Rhys Morgan ©, George Roberts, Harry Williams, Josh Hurley, Ben Hill (James Crothers), Andy Richards (Rhys Beynon), Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood (Geraint Williams), Mason Good, Alan Doyle, Andy Lang, Alex Shore, Hugh Leach, Miles Jones, Sam Davies
Scorers: George Roberts (try), Josh Hurley (3 penalties).
