STUTTERING SEASIDERS SCRAPE HOME
PENARTH 15 GWERNYFED 13
A much-changed Seasiders team produced some sparkling rugby, but ultimately allowed minor errors to mar what should have been a more comfortable victory against Gwernyfed. Kitted out in a dazzling new kit and featuring an all-new front row, the key difference was a three-quarter line bristling with talent and clearly intent on playing some rugby.
The typically hard-working visitors from Talgarth used wind advantage to pen the hosts in their own half for the opening ten minutes, but the minute Penarth got across half-way, Nathan Smith chipped to the left-hand corner, where Ben Donovan was following up for a smart try.
This pattern was repeated for the remainder of the half, as Gwernyfed bustled and the Seasiders worked through a whole host of ideas while falling just short of any further scores. A couple of penalties from the visitors gained them a 6-5 lead at half-time.
Turning round with the wind at their backs, Penarth showed real ambition, but early-season rustiness scotched any chances of regaining the lead until an infringement saw the visitors’ blindside flanker off for ten minutes and James Docherty slotted over the penalty. This led immediately to the Seasiders stepping it up a gear as Adam Lewis moved play out of the home half and set Donovan off for another run down the right flank, with Mike Gubb in support. Gareth Mathias pounced on the breakdown on the visitors’ 22 to work it back inside and Stuart Clarke sliced through on an angle to score under the posts.
Having extended their lead to 15-6, Penarth themselves lost a player to the bin and allowed Gwernyfed back into the game as they pulled back a try with six minutes remaining. As Smith narrowly missed with a penalty at the other end of the field, the visitors kicked long and laid siege to the Penarth line. The Seasiders held out, but only as the last kick of the game, an attempted drop goal, sailed narrowly past the left-hand post.
A narrow but deserved win, but surely more to come from this ambitious outfit once the coaches have ironed out a few creases. The fun really starts next weekend, when Penarth travel west to meet Barry at the Reservoir Fields. Our newly-promoted neighbours were narrowly defeated at Llantrisant, falling 29-34 to their recently-relegated opponents.
PENARTH Tom Smith (Rhys Morgan), Mike Gubb, Adam Lewis, Nathan Smith, Ben Donovan, James Docherty, Gareth Mathias, Owen James (Jerome Bryan), Mason Good, Alan Doyle (Sean O’Sullivan), Stuart Clarke, Richard Howell, Scott Mackie [c], Elliott Smith (Matt Allen), Alex Thau.
Scorers: Donovan, Clarke (tries), Docherty 1C, 1P
SWALEC League Division 2 East Central
Saturday 12th September 2015
Barry v Penarth
Reservoir Fields, Merthyr Dyfan Road
Kick-off 2.30pm
