SEASIDERS TEAMWORK GAINS LOSING BONUS

Fairwater 22 Penarth 16 – Saturday 6 September 2014

On a glorious September afternoon at Waterhall Park, two teams that are well acquainted with each other’s foibles slugged it out for eighty minutes of an entertaining encounter with the outcome remaining in doubt until the very end.

A Penarth team featuring several new faces took a little time to settle in the face of a determined Fairwater onslaught, but the score remained at 0-0 until the end of the first quarter, when the home side finally got their noses in front with a penalty. In fact, they only extended this to 6-0 with 33 minutes gone and it was on the stroke of half-time that they finally managed to crack a determined Penarth defence as their troublesome number 4 broke through and set his blindside flanker up for the score.

Despite a 13-0 half-time score, there was little to tell between the two teams and the second half promised much. The Penarth defence, in particular, was settling in nicely and the late try represented the only real slip-up.

Playing downhill in the second half, the Seasiders lost little time in putting things to rights. Having gained good field position on the edge of the home 22, they were foiled by a Fairwater infringement. Alex Thau tapped and went, with Richard Howells taking it to the line before Rhys Morgan made the final lunge to score.

With most of the second period to come, all the momentum was with Penarth now and, within five minutes, a James Docherty penalty had reduced the arrears to three points. However, the hosts pulled three back and, as the penalty exchanges continued, the score moved to 19-10, then 19-13 and 22-13, before a final Docherty penalty brought up the score back to 22-16 with five minutes to go.

Ultimately a losing bonus point was a fair return for an encouraging display by a team that gelled quickly and showed no obvious weaknesses. Unfortunately they didn’t quite manage to maintain enough momentum to claim a match where the try count was 1-1 and they might well have won.

Among the newer faces, Tom Smith gave an assured display at full-back, while Nathan Palmer offered ample pace and no little skill and commitment on the right wing. Keiron Carpenter was an encouragingly confident outside half and Richard Howells was constantly involved at blindside flanker.

The more established players all gave a good account of themselves, with Elliott Smith bringing assurance with a welcome return to the back row from the bench. James Docherty offered a dynamic all-round display from hooker and Rhys Morgan capped a fine all-round performance at scrum-half with a well-taken try.

There’s plenty more to come from the new-look Seasiders, starting with the visit of Cardiff side St.Josephs to the Athletic Field next Saturday.
PENARTH Tom Smith, Nathan Palmer, Tom Luck, James Thatcher, James Crothers, Keiron Carpenter (Mike Gubb), Rhys Morgan, Sean O’Sullivan, James Docherty, Jerome Bryan, Mike Clare, Stuart Clarke (Elliott Smith), Richard Howells, Alex Thau, Matt Sutton.

Swalec League Division 2 (East Central)
Saturday 13th September 2014
PENARTH v St.Joseph’s
The Athletic Field, Lavernock Road
Kick-off 2.30pm