Match Report - 19th November 2011

Old Penarthians RFC 1st XV 15 v Cilfynydd RFC 1st XV 53 (SWALEC League)

At OLD PENARTHIANS played host to Cilfynydd in a SWALEC National League Division 5SE fixture last Saturday.

Despite heavy rain in the week which led to the cancellation of many pitches in the Vale, the Cwrt-y-Vil pitch was in good condition and supporters, wrapped up against a chilly wind, were expecting a competitive game against a side four places above them in the league.

That expectation was rewarded for the first 30 minutes of the game when both sides tried to assert themselves and the scores were 13-13. However, in the last 10 minutes of the half Cilfynydd scored three converted tries to effectively seal the outcome.

Old Penarthians did rally in the second half after another early score by Cilfynydd, and for 30 minutes kept the opposition from scoring without unduly pressuring the try line.

However, two more late tries allowed Cilfynydd to run out winners by 53 points to 16.

The game had started ominously when Cilfynydd received the ball from the kick off and with three phases of play advanced into the home team 22, where they were awarded a penalty that was converted by outside half Delme King.

On 7 minutes the scores were level through a Huw Liddell penalty, awarded after good forward drives from Mark Smart, Tom Sidford and Steve Thomas. The restart was taken well by Old Pens and the ball was released to James Williams who drove forward with support from Mark Sadler.

The forwards were on hand and after a couple of phases of play, scrum half Gareth Jones kicked ahead and found touch about 10 metres from the opposition try line.

Cilfynydd were penalised for an early lift at the line out and from the resulting scrum Paul Langley broke to the open side of the field and passed the ball back inside to flanker Smart who raced over to score untouched. Liddell kicked the conversion.

Indiscipline from a Cilfynydd forward disputing a referee's decision led to another penalty chance to Liddell which he gratefully accepted from in front of the posts and at this stage Penarthians led by 13 points to 3.

The Penarthians scrum was holding strong with Lee Brennan, Simon Barry (playing on permit from neighbours Penarth) and Peter Harry more than a match for their bigger opponents in the tight play. The line out was again under pressure though, and the opportunities to attack from this phase of play were limited despite Alun Haines again defying the years to put in an all-round performance.

Unfortunately it was Haines who gave away the penalty on 22 minutes for falling on the ball at the back of a ruck that gave the changed kicker, Mark Burton 3 points.

Five minutes later pressure on the home team line led to a series of penalties that were taken quickly, the final one of which resulted in a try for Lee Griffiths under the post. The conversion from Burton levelled the scores.

From the restart the ball was taken by the Cilfynydd forwards who swept through some poor tackling and then caught the home team offside at a ruck. Scrum half Burton took another quick penalty and, with his whole back line in position against a haphazard Penarthians defensive unit, released fly-half King who raced 40 yards to score under the posts.

The conversion by Burton brought the score to 20-13 in the visitors favour.

The writing was beginning to appear on the wall at this point with the visitors reacting to situations much more quickly than the home team, who were beginning to get ragged and undermining their own efforts with too much complaining to themselves and the referee.

Matters were not made any better by the sin-binning of captain Sadler, somewhat unfairly, for what the referee determined to be the last of a series of top-up infringements.

With a man down the competition was effectively ended when Cilfynydd scored two more converted tries before the half time break through full back Huw Williams and lock forward Mike Oliver. Sandwiched between these tries was a penalty from Liddell and this made the half time score 34-16 to the visitors.

The second half did not start in a particularly auspicious manner when flanker Aaron Atkins caught a ball at the back of a line out on the 10-metre line and ran through two poor ineffective tackles to score under the posts. The conversion taken by King was successful.

The next 30 minutes were better for the Old Penarthians and with a more concentrated effort they did manage to retain the ball through several phases of play. This allowed the threequarters to test their paces and both wingers James Williams and Richie Moir had opportunities to run at their opposite numbers, albeit from distance. Moir in fact was returning to some of his form from last season and on two occasions beat his winger only to be caught by the cover defence. Simon Davies also was a willing support runner from full back and was also able to contribute from scrum half when Gareth Jones was forced out on to the wing with a hand injury.

Other injuries sustained by Haines, Thomas and Smart caused their early withdrawal from the fray and it must be hoped that these are not too serious, as the casualty list is ever lengthening. It was good to see Jon Crimp and Dean Pratt return to the side but a further late injury to ever-present number eight Paul Langley could prove costly in terms of experience and leadership.

Paul left the field with a hand injury sustained after the forwards took the laws into their own hands after continual poor officiating at the ruck had led to frustrations for both teams. It appears he will be sidelined for several weeks with broken bones in his hand and wrist, one of which was an injury sustained earlier in the season but undiagnosed.

Eventually this withdrawal meant the defensive effort was again overstretched and in the evening gloom, Cilfynydd finished stronger, scoring two late tries through Andrew Headford and Stuart Williams, both converted by King.

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