Match Report - 7th January 2012
Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd RFC 33 v Old Penarthians RFC 1st XV 11 (SWALEC League)
The first game of the New Year saw the Old Penarthians 1st XV make the short journey to Llandaff Fields in Cardiff to take on current league leaders Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd. Whilst Cardiff Council had announced the previous day that all Parks pitches in their area were unplayable, Clwb Rygbi inspected their particular pitch on the morning of the game and declared the surface to be playable. The Park attendant was summoned and he duly opened the changing rooms that have remained in the same condition as when they were first used in the 1960’s with the original paint still on the walls and the familiar smell of liniment in the air.
There is however nothing old about Clwb Rygbi and they have progressed well since their formation in 1967 and their introduction into the league structure of the WRU three years ago. They have a young enthusiastic committee that provide the backroom support for a well organised, predominantly Welsh speaking team who gained promotion from Division 6 last season and see another promotion as a distinct possibility.
Unfortunately Old Penarthians did not dent that ambition too much as the home team collected three league points for the victory together with a bonus point for scoring four tries. The final score was 33 points to 11 however in the words of coach Jeff Norman “ It did not feel like a twenty point loss”. There was much credit to be taken from the game by the Old Pens and for long periods particularly in the first half the side had both territorial advantage and more than their fair share of possession. A lack of attacking penetration meant that these advantages could not be used to the full and all too often the last pass or decision meant that the moves floundered.
There is however much for the coach to work with as the number of players returning to training is promising and with two sessions of more than twenty people in attendance showing that the players themselves want to turn around their current playing record
If the team can build some confidence there is every chance to be competitive for the remainder of the season as was shown last Saturday. The spirit is there as the side had to overcome early nerves that had seen them concede twenty yards at a maul from a line out and then concede a penalty for collapsing a similar move in their own twenty-two three minutes later. This led to a quick tap penalty from Clwb Rygbi passed inside to the centre who was hauled down just short of the line but the recycled ball was passed quickly to the full back, Rhyddian Garner, who dived to score in the corner despite the despairing tackles of Gareth Jones and James Williams. The conversion after six minutes was unsuccessful.
The Old Penarthians then entered into their best phases of the game with good forward drives from Mark Smart, Alun Haines and Tom Sidford supplemented by controlled retention of the ball at rucks and mauls. Scrum half, Gareth Jones, was often marshalling his troops into position to allow forwards to carry the game to the opposition. The game plan certainly seemed to be working when two Scott McCarthy penalties on 16 and 20 minutes ensured that Old Penarthians led by 6 -5. The second of those penalties coming from a scrum feed by Clwb Rygbi that was taken against the head by Brennan, Smart and Webber, which in turn led to five or six phases of play including a raid by captain, Mark Sadler supported by Sean Leach before the opposition conceded the penalty.
Unfortunately the lead was not held for long because Clwb were back in front after 25 minutes with a try for number 8, Hwyel Jones after good work from the outside half had released the ball behind the back of tackler Huw Liddell to create the space for the score. The conversion from Garner was successful. Defensive work up to this point had been good with Jonathan Crimp and Sadler both putting in strong tackles on bigger opposition players. Their support play of each other was also good in both attack and defence and the partnership was showing signs of returning to the form of last season.
Others keeping the home team at bay were Sean Leach and Paul Kemp and it was unfortunate that the latter player was given a perfect pass when in full flight after 35 minutes that he did not gather else it would have been a great opportunity for a score. Another patient build up from the forwards saw McCarthy fail with a drop goal attempt when a more dogmatic approach may have been better. That said Penarthians did however retain territory advantage inside the opponents twenty two and with the last play of the half a pass from Gareth Jones to James Williams saw the winger score in the corner only to be called back rightly by the referee for a forward pass. The half time score was therefore 12 points to six.
The second half started in disastrous fashion and Clwb Rygbi scored two tries after two and five minutes through Guto Llewellyn and Elgan Davies, both of which were converted by Garner. Both the scores were effectively gifted to them by some poor kicking in the first instance after Haines had gathered well from the kick off and then when a speculative pass was thrown by the outside half in between two Old Penarthians three-quarters, neither could gather and the centre caught it to cross the try line. These scores effectively killed the contest but the Old Penarthians never gave up and were always willing to try to run the ball back through Richie Moir and Tim Naylor, who had come on as a second half substitute for Liddell.
The pressure did pay off when the Clwb Rygbi scrum was put under pressure again and with the scrum half challenged by Jones he threw a poor pass that did not reach the intended recipient and Leach dived on the ball to score. McCarthy missed the conversion.
The final word went to Clwb Rygbi when after 25 minutes Garner capped a fine individual performance with another try and conversion to bring his individual total of points to eighteen. With the light failing coach Norman introduced substitutes Dave Mason, Noel Etxragary and Lloyd Davey into the fray but despite individual contributions the team effort could not overcome the deficit and Clwb Rygbi were worthy winners although they will have known that they had been challenged throughout the contest.