SEASIDERS HOLD THEIR NERVE
Wattstown 15 Penarth 23 – Saturday 8 March 2015
The Memorial Park in Wattstown was a delightful setting in the early spring sunlight for a relegation struggle between 12th and 10th that was more a test of nerve than of power or skill. The Seasiders were once again forced to field a motley crew, with several players called on to do their best in unfamiliar positions, but when you’re mired in a contest to avoid the drop, it’s all about character, really.
Penarth made an excellent start from the kick-off, moving play into the home 22 and converting a penalty for a 3—0 lead after only 3 minutes. However, they soon found that the odds were stacked against them in two critical areas as the Ducks dominated in scrum and maul.
Nevertheless, the Seasiders held aces in the set-piece as Elliott Smith steadily maintained possession in a retreating scrum, while James Beaton was a towering presence in the line-out. Although the hosts looked the more composed for much of the first half, they didn’t manage to take the lead until the 28th minute, when they worked their way over from a succession of scrum penalties. The scorer could not be identified.
Despite rapidly draining confidence and a string of unforced errors capped by a penalty converted by ‘Town outside half Mike Evans sending the home team into a 10-3 lead, Penarth managed a single foray into the 22 and claimed a second penalty to reduce the arrears to 10-6 at half-time.
A team with a rather different took the field in the second half, no doubt fired up by the half-time team talk and another penalty brought the score to 10-9 with a real contest was at last in prospect. The scoreboard didn’t move for a while, chiefly because neither side’s kicker was having much joy, but you could somehow sense that the initiative had passed to the away team.
This new-found self-belief took a knock on 53 minutes as Wattstown scrum-half Jack Foulkes found a chink in the Seasiders’ defensive line on half-way and took a finely-judged angle to beat Rhys Morgan to the right-hand corner where Tom Hillman might have been had he not been awarded a yellow card minutes earlier.
Penarth appeared unconcerned by the 6-point deficit and even the departures of Chris Mortimer and James Beaton through injury failed to shake their confidence. Ben Donovan was beginning to find space at last and forced a home clearance to touch from which the Seasiders drove over for yet another Elliott Smith try and a one-point lead as Docherty nailed the conversion..
The Ducks were still regularly taking scrums against the head, but a disorganised and dispirited back division were in no state to exploit this and as the game moved deep into injury time, the initiative passed decisively to the Penarth. As the Ducks’ discipline finally cracked, the Seasiders gained 10 metres on a penalty three times in succession, as full-back Matthew Evans talked his way into the bin. The penalty went to touch and an irresistible drive from the Penarth pack propelled Mike Clare over the line for the try.
To be realistic, this win has only really kept the Seasiders in the four-horse race for the last relegation place, but there they are and it’s all to play for. The climax of the 6 Nations takes up the next two weekends, but another must-win fixture awaits Penarth on 28th March, when they welcome 8th-placed Abercynon to the Athletic Field.
PENARTH Rhys Morgan, Ben Donovan, James Crothers, Tom Hillman, James Docherty, Gareth Mathias, Jerome Bryan, Gary Power, Sean O’Sullivan, Mike Clare, James Beaton, Richard Howells, Eliott Smith, Chris Mortimer (Matt Sutton)
Scorers: Mike Clare T
Elliott Smith T
James Docherty 3P, 2C
