SEASIDERS FAIL TO RISE TO THE OCCASION

PENARTH 3 BARRY 29 – Saturday 19 December 2015

 

After a couple of well-constructed wins against opposition from the lower end of the table, this was probably a re-arranged fixture too far for Penarth. Second-placed Barry turned up still hurting from a

25-9 home defeat inflicted by the Seasiders in September with a simple game plan – hard running and plenty of it.

 

For a while, with the wind at their backs, the visitors looked as if they were going to make short work of Penarth, as the home side absorbed wave after wave of attacks in their own 22. Although the

tackling was sound, the old weakness at the breakdown was still in evidence and they simply couldn’t lay their hands on the ball.

In a way, it was lucky that Barry’s ambition didn’t extend much beyond executing the game plan and they were happy with a couple of penalties and a 6-0 lead for much of the first half. The Seasiders’

luck held until the half-hour, when the visitors finally launched a determined assault on the line. This was halted, but at the cost of losing Harry Roberts for the remainder of the half. Barry naturally

elected to scrummage from the penalty and secured their first try and a 13-0 lead.

 

Penarth came back strongly as Nathan Smith tapped a penalty near half-way, but was injured as he was tackled on the 22m line. He converted the penalty, but gave way to James Docherty at half-time

as the visitors restored their 13-point advantage with another penalty.

 

The second half began in frantic fashion, as both sides indulged in a flurry of handling errors. The visitors nevertheless managed to gain field position and an early penalty to lead 19-3. They added to

this with another on the hour, as the game moved slowly away from Penarth, who had yet to work out how to gain any useful possession.

 

The final quarter petered out in a succession of injuries and downright poor play by both teams, but it was Barry that retained the scoring habit securing a fifth penalty and finally a second try after 74

minutes.

 

The Seasiders are now scheduled to face Old Penarthians at the Athletic Field on Boxing Day with an

11.30am kick-off before travelling to Pontyclun on Saturday 2nd January.

 

PENARTH Huw Elias, Ben Donovan, Adam Lewis, Tom Luck, James Crothers, Nathan Smith, (James Docherty), Gareth Matthias, Jerome Bryan (Owain James), Simon Barry, Alan Doyle (Sean O’Sullivan), Elliott Smith, Scott Mackie, Alex Thau, Harry Roberts.

Scorers: Nathan Smith (penalty).

 

Saturday 26th December 2015

PENARTH v Old Penarthians

The Athletic Field

Kick-off 11.30am