Seasiders Climb to Eighth

Penarth  31-24 Penygraig (HT-17 – 10) 

Another game, another bonus-point win, but still plenty for the coaches to work on in the next fortnight! Dominating all phases of play, Penarth twice got themselves into a comfortable position in this match, only for a very ordinary Penygraig side to claw their way back into contention.

For most of the first half excellent work by the Seasiders pack starved Penygraig of possession and it was fully 35 minutes before they got into the home 22. By this time Penarth had already scored the game’s first tries. A huge storming break from a stolen line-out by Chris Mortimer made all the difference and the ball was swiftly worked wide to Jimmy Crothers who scored in the corner after 17 muntes.

‘Graig narrowed the gap briefly four minutes later with a 30-metre penalty, but all the pressure was coming from the Seasiders. Into the away 22 for the umpteenth time with the opposition denying preventing quick ball as usual, Spencer Robinson nevertheless ripped an apparently killed ball out of the ruck and fed Kevin Maddox. The outside half broke the line and put Rhys Beynon into the narrowest of gaps; the centre was way too strong for the two tacklers as he surged to the line.

Leading 10-3 with five minutes left to half-time, Penarth faced a first visit to their own 22 by the ‘Graig and as a well-aligned defence awaited the outcome of an attacking scrum, they strangely missed the full-back as he entered the line. Well tackled, but his momentum carried him over.

All that hard work and a couple of mistakes had lost them the lead. However, Man of the Match Spencer Robinson had other ideas as he fielded the return from the restart. The scrum-half conjured up a signature solo try from 60 metres with two side-steps and riding three perfectly good tackles!

The Seasiders were looking lively at the start of the second half, but still spilling too many passes to totally dominate proceedings. Leading 17-10, they extended the margin with a 40 metre penalty from James Docherty, but conceded a penalty to the visitors minutes later and a perfectly executed catch-and-drive again reduced the arrears to 20-17.

Another Docherty penalty stretched the lead again to six points, but despite a glut of possession and a string of penalty awards as ‘Graig infringed their way out of trouble, the try that would bring the bonus point and finally put the game to bed simply wouldn’t come.

The relentless pressure finally told and after a lengthy siege going through multiple carefully-managed phases, Ben Hill tore himself out of a tackle and strolled around behind the posts.

The closing phases were a formality as another Docherty penalty put Penarth into a 31-17 lead, but the last minutes seemed to go on forever as the visitors went in search of a consolation losing bonus point. A late tackle on Mortimer went unpunished and dissent from the home team gave ‘Graig the field position they needed to gain a 5 metre line-out, try and conversion with the last move of the game.

The Autumn internationals now give Penarth a fortnight to prepare for the away fixture against second-placed Fairwater. The Cardiff club have clearly reached this lofty position on the back of a remarkable defence, as they have only scored 11 tries against the Seasiders’ 30. A good result there would be a huge boost for the Seasiders and consolidate their mid-table position.

PENARTH – Rhys Morgan ©, James Crothers, Owain Lord (James Docherty), Rhys Beynon, Ben Hill, Kevin Maddox, Spencer Robinson, Richard Merrett (Sean O’Sullivan), Iwan Baker, Alan Doyle, Owen Thomas (Harrison Pugsley), Andy Lang, Alex Fulton (Josh Spragg), Chris Mortimer, Dan Seal

Scorers – Crothers (T), Beynon (T), Robinson (T), Hill (T), Docherty (3P, C)