SEASIDERS OUTRUN BY LIVELY VILLAGERS
DINAS POWIS 22 PENARTH 8 – Saturday 26 September 2015
A glorious afternoon at the Common played host to what looked as if it would be a massacre of the hapless visitors, but ended up as a classic curate’s egg of a game.
The opening ten minutes showed just how lively the home side were going to be behind the scrum and waves of attacks crashed down on the Seasiders’ scrambled defence. Each clearance inevitably ended up in the hands of the Villagers’ backs and it was a real surprise that the opening score didn’t arrive until the 11th minute.
After the outside centre had gone over for a converted try, it felt as if the next score wouldn’t be long in coming. In fact it was another eight minutes before Dinas extended their lead to 10-0 with a penalty. The restart was dropped on to the home 22, so they proceeded to run it right back into Penarth’s 22. The left wing, having been tackled by Ben Donovan, nevertheless twisted free and scored in the corner.
With 24 minutes gone, Dinas looked faster, fitter and considerable meaner. There seemed little the Seasiders could do to get on to the scoreboard, let alone fight back. However, fight back they did and the rest of the game was surprisingly even in the end. Having gained the measure of the home pack, it was now Penarth’s turn to dictate the pace of the game, even if their only reward was a Nathan Smith penalty with the last kick of the half.
Sadly, within three minutes of the beginning of the second half, the Villagers had hassled their way to a third try as they arrived in numbers to follow up a long clearance and scored in the corner. As it turned out, Dinas had shot their bolt, but since they were 22-3 in front with most of the second half to play, this was both an opportunity and a serious challenge for Penarth. They started well, as a period of pressure in the home 22 yielded a penalty in front of the posts and a quick tap saw Alex Thau over in the corner.
The remaining 25 minutes were entirely taken up with a fruitless search for a way back into the game and, with time running out, a losing bonus point. For some reason, with all the replacements on the field and Dinas offering little opposition, the Seasiders just couldn’t make it count and came away with nothing. The Villagers had secured the points with a flat-out opening 25 minutes, but despite their early dominance, must have been disappointed by their own failure to secure a bonus point.
Penarth drop to third in the table as Dinas leap-frogged over them into second place behind leaders Porth and next Saturday Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd are the visitors to the Athletic Field. The Cardiff club have lost three of their first four games and sit in 8th position, 6 points behind the Seasiders, having lost 22-45 at home to Llantrisant last Saturday
PENARTH Rhys Morgan, Tom Luck, Adam Lewis, Nathan Smith, Ben Donovan, James Docherty (James Crothers), Chris Mortimer, Richard Merrett (Owen James), Mason Good (Joe Page), Sean O’Sullivan (Alan Doyle), Stuart Clarke (Jerome Bryan), Matt Allen, Scott Mackie [c], Elliott Smith, Alex Thau.
Scorers: Thau (try), N.Smith 1C
Swalec League Division 2 East Central
Saturday 3rd October 2015
PENARTH v Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd
The Athletic Field, Lavernock Road
Kick-off 2.30pm
