SEASIDERS END WITH A WHIMPER

PENARTH 0 CAMBRIAN WELFARE 73 – Saturday 21 April 2018

Penarth’s long stay in the fourth level of Welsh club rugby finally came to an end last Saturday with a rearranged fixture against championship-chasing Cambrian Welfare, who hadn’t lost a game since the middle of November.

The Seasiders gave it their best shot, winning a surprising amount of possession, but it simply wasn’t good enough as Cam came for a bonus point, but just couldn’t help scoring in a second half that featured six tries.

As is often the case in games like this, the Welfare didn’t actually dominate all phases of the game, but perhaps they didn’t need to as Penarth errors handed them two tries in the first quarter. The visitors’ superbly-drilled back division then came to the fore with a couple more in the second quarter before another loose pass on the stroke of half time handed them a fifth to lead 0-33.

The sixth try soon arrived and despite a brief reviv al as they sent on reinforcements, the Seasiders were beginning to tire as the game entered the final quarter with the score on 0-38. The five tries that arrived in the last 17 minutes (four in the last seven) could be put down to demoralisation, but Penarth continued to enjoy periods of possession and never stopped trying to break their duck.

Cambrian Welfare looked very much the promotion candidates they’ve been for most of the season, pouncing on every opportunity, tackling hard and sticking to a fast-paced, short-passing game throughout.
Penarth ended up as a side that had opened the season with six straight defeats and were then to finish with seven loses on the trot. That they recovered so well to record five wins in nine games in mid-season gave a good indication of their potential and they were eleven points clear of the relegation zone as recently as mid-February. At least three of the last seven games were winnable on the day, but the downwards momentum proved irresistible.

You have to go back more than twenty years to find a defeat as bad as this and this was the most points conceded since a 14-74 defeat against Pontyclun in 2012. As they drop into National League 3 East Central A, the Seasiders can at least look forward to meeting a lot of familiar opponents. Whether that’s a good thing or not is largely academic, it’s what’s in store now.

PENARTH Owain Lord, Ben Hill (Tom Hillman), James Thatcher, Chris Mortimer (Rhys Lloyd), James Crothers, James Docherty, Rhys Morgan, John Davies (Richard Merrett), Mason Good (Harry Wood), Sean O’Sullivan, Matt Allen, Aaron Ellis (Elliott Smith), Owen Thomas, Nick Davenport, Richie Bowen