SEASIDERS BACK ON TOP
PENARTH 57-19 Treharris (HT 35-7)
At a time in the season where it was important to keep the winning run going for Penarth, it was a very welcome move to the excellent facilities of St.Cyres School that allowed this match against Treharris to go ahead.
This week, the slow nature of the pitch didn’t noticeably affect the Seasiders’ fast-paced game as they scored nine tries and went back to the top of the table in the absence of a fixture for closest rivals Llanharan.
Despite dominating and going into an early lead though captain Miles Jones, they struggled to control matters for a while, at least partly due to a strong cross-field wind and Treharris even managed to level the scores after 12 minutes.
This was as good as it got for the visitors, but it took until the 24th minute for Penarth to go ahead as Rhys Beynon picked up a loose kick ahead and set Spencer Robinson running. The scrum-half completely out-paced the cover from inside his own half to score the second try.
The Seasiders went on to register three more tries before half-time. The first was spectacular, as Man-of-the-Match Sam Sully received a pass on half-way and set off at high speed, selling an outrageous dummy on the 10m line before giving Harry Williams the scoring pass on the 22.
Although Penarth were still struggling to make any progress in the scrums, the back division more than made up for this in the first half. From a goal-line drop-out, Harry Williams ran it back at an angle, finding Ben Wellington on the left wing who cut inside his opposite wing to score behind the posts for the try which secured the bonus point.
With half-time approaching, a Treharris player kicked the ball away from an offside position on his own 22 and Robinson simply tapped the penalty and was under the posts before the visitors could catch him.
The match was arguably firmly in the bag as the Seasiders made a nervous start playing into the wind. A string of handling errors allowed the Phoenix to pull back another try, but five minutes later, there was yet another spectacular home move to delight the fans. Robinson set off from inside his own half, then Harry Williams found Sully as they crossed the 10m line. The tight-head prop opened his box of tricks a second time, selling another dummy before jinking his way to the posts.
As the pack finally got on top in the tight, a penalty struck by Ben Jones into the 22 for a line-out was expertly driven to the line, where Sully completed the score for his second. Treharris were gifted a third try though an interception, but this was far too late to affect the result.
Two more tries followed, as Sully very nearly made it a third, before the supporting Matt Allen forced his way over, but the young prop wasn’t to be denied. A sweeping three-quarter move found him lurking on the right touchline from where he broke a tackle to limp over in the corner. The hat-trick a fitting climax to a Man-of-the-Match performance.
Penarth travel north next Saturday to face 8th-placed Llantwit Fardre in Church Village, with a third-round Division 2 Cup tie to follow at the Athletic Field against the same opposition a week later.
PENARTH: Harry Williams, James Crothers, Andy Richards, Rhys Beynon (Rhys Morgan), Ben Wellington, Ben Jones, Spencer Robinson (Tom Hillman), Harry Wood (Sean O’Sullivan), Tom Griffiths (Mason Good), Sam Sully, Dom Owen, Cam Sultana (Matt Allen), Miles Jones ©, Ryan Hall, Mike Lang.
Scorers: Sam Sully (3 tries), Spencer Robinson (2 tries), Miles Jones (try), Harry Williams (try), Matt Allen (try), Ben Wellington (try), Ben Jones (6 conversions)
