Slopp Seasiders let in Six

Penarth 5 St Peters 43 – Saturday 13 October 2012

This was a deeply disappointing game for the Seasiders and paying public alike. Not just because they lost to a very ordinary St Peters side and not even because they conceded six tries in doing so. The really depressing part is that they conceded two tries in the first four minutes and a further three in the last seven. The rest of the game was evenly contested and you’d have been forgiven for thinking Penarth were comfortably in the lead if you’d wandered through the gate at any time during the middle hour of the game.

The Rocks started well from the kick-off, but it was patience rather than incisiveness that paid off as a missed tackle on number eight put tight-head prop Ed Dobbs in for a 3rd minute try. From the restart, lively inside centre John Morris waltzed through a static midfield to out his centre partner Sonny Driscoll under the posts.

At this point the Seasiders woke up with a start and immediately put things to rights. Admittedly, it’s best to do this without conceding 14 points first, but better late than never. A concerted forward effort saw the ball-carrier over the line, but declared ‘held up’. A full ten minutes of forwards’ hard work in the Rocks’ twenty-two finally yielded a reward as a well-supported Aaron Ellis forced his way over for his third try of the season.
With half-time looming, St Peters finally lifted the continuing Penarth siege and patiently worked their way up-field to claim a penalty and a 16-point margin as the teams turned around at half time with the score standing at 5-17.

The visitors continue to bide their time as the Seasiders dominated the third quarter. Promising breaks from James Crothers and Ben Donovan came to nothing and Rocks’ outside-half David Mitchell was struggling with the wind advantage and consistently over-hitting his touch-finders.
Almost inevitably St Peters were happy to hold on to their two-score lead and when the next points arrived on the hour, it was the visitors exploiting a free-kick from a twenty-five metre scrum, putting it through the hands for left wing Josh Kelly to cross in the corner.

A bonus-point try would surely have followed immediately, if not for a fine chase back and saving tackle from Ben Donovan and Penarth were soon on the attack again, but somehow failing to finish off all their well-constructed moves.

A classic example ushered in the fatal last seven minutes as the Seasiders looked certain to score in the left-hand corner, only for the short scoring pass to be thrown behind Aaron Ellis. To add insult to injury, Kelly scooped up the loose ball and sprinted 90 metres to score.

A stroke of luck for the visitors as the referee ignored an obvious knock-on in their own 22 allowed them to clear downfield for a 5m line-out. Not straight from the Seasiders, scrum five Rocks, centre John Morris in at an angle to score. The last five minutes featured several waves of Penarth attacks (and handling errors), plus a final score as Morris danced past three tackles to put replacement Matthew Arnold in for the sixth and final try.

The fragile nature of the midfield defence will come under close scrutiny this coming Saturday as leaders Pontyclun bring their unbeaten record to the Athletic Field.

PENARTH Rhys Morgan, Ben Donovan [Louis Chandler], James Candy, Mike Hurley James Crothers, James Docherty, Owain George, Richard Merrett, Joe Page, Sean O’Sullivan [Tom Gent ], Aaron Ellis, Dan Hofmann, Adan Cole [Scott Mackie], Elliott Smith, Matt Sutton [Alex Thau]

Swalec League Division 3(SE)
Saturday 20th October 2012
PENARTH v Pontyclun
The Athletic Field, Lavernock Road
Kick-off 2.30pm