SEASIDERS’ LONG WINNING RUN ENDS
Llanharan 25-13 PENARTH (HT 12-8)
It was, perhaps, a little early for a championship decider, but hats off to Llanharan RFC for managing to stage a league game on a wet and windy 30th December. This clash was eagerly anticipated by both sides and their supporters, but in a lot of ways it was a bit of an anti-climax.
Having said that, it was closely fought and the result remained in doubt right up to the last ten minutes. It all looked quite promising for the Seasiders in a scoreless opening quarter. Josh Hurley was kicking them into good positions, they were looking strong in the tight and stealing line-outs; nevertheless, it was the Dairymen who took the lead against the run of play.
After Penarth had once again pushed them off their own put-in and the referee had awarded the hosts a penalty, there was a tap-and-go and good, swift hands to find lock Owain Howe on far touchline for an unconverted try in the corner.
No need to panic, as five minutes later, Llanharan were offside on their own 10m line and Hurley reduced the arrears by slotting over the penalty. It was a real disappointment in what seemed sure to be a low-scoring game that the hosts went further ahead with their next visit to the Penarth 22. The defence held up well against a severe battering from the home pack, only for the ball to be passed back to replacement scrum-half Morgan Parsons, who slalomed his way awkwardly past the advancing defence to score.
The Seasiders were far from finished as half-time approached as Harry Williams chipped ahead on half-way and was immediately body checked into touch. The referee declined to award a yellow card, but decided on a penalty where the ball had landed. The line-out was driven to the line, penalty Penarth. Spencer Robinson tapped and went, only to be upended in a tip tackle. This time the penalty was taken as a scrum and Miles Jones claimed the try.
The teams turnedround with Llanharan leading by only four points. Penarth took the initiative, but failed to make it stick and when the Dairymen were awarded a penalty in the away 22, they acknowledged the pressure they’d been under by calling for the tee and easing into a 15-8 lead.
For most of the second half, the Seasiders dominated possession, but simply couldn’t get over the line, despite engineering several scoring opportunities. This was largely due to some ferociously effective counter-rucking by Llanharan, but there was no real prospect of any further scores as we entered the last ten minutes with the score tantalisingly stuck on 15-8.
Then the Seasiders were caught offside near the half-way line following up a long clearance and the successful kick extended the home lead to a more manageable 18-8. Disaster struck again eight minutes later as confusion reigned near the Penarth line and the Dairymen pounced to claim the winning try and an unassailable 25-8 lead.
At this moment the heavens opened and the match continued into a lengthy stoppage time in monsoon conditions. Here was where the Seasiders suddenly clicked and reverted to type. A three-man breakaway surged unstoppably through the home cover and Robinson drew the last defender to put Harry Williams in for the final try of the game.
Penarth face another serious challenge this coming Saturday as 6th-placed Cowbridge are the visitors to the Athletic Field. They will be keen to put the record straight after they suffered a rather humiliating 37-14 home defeat against the Seasiders back at the end of September. Brad Williams, Spencer Robinson and Ryan Hall all scored tries, to which were added two penalty tries.
PENARTH: Harry Williams, Luc Keane-Adams, Andy Richards, Rhys Beynon, Ben Wellington (Charlie Rainbird), Josh Hurley, Spencer Robinson, Geraint Williams, Mason Good (Harry Wood), Ryan Jones (Sam Sully), Matt Allen, Cam Sultana, Tom Griffiths, Miles Jones ©, Evan Jones.
Scorers: Harry Williams (try), Miles Jones (try), Josh Hurley (1 penalty).
